



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

©jjap.Tj*! Gujnjrigijt Ifo._ 

Shelf 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




























FOUNDATIONS 


AND 


Foundation Walls, 

FOR ALL CLASSES OF BUILDINGS, 

PILE DRIVING, BUILDING STONES & BRICKS, 

PIER AND WALL CONSTRUCTION, MORTARS, LIMES, CEMENTS, CON¬ 
CRETES, STUCCOS, ETC. 


64 ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PRACTICAL EXPLANATIONS OF THE VARIOUS METHODS OF BUILDING FOUNDATION 
WALLS FOR ALL KINDS OF BUILDINGS. TABLES OF THE WEIGHT OF MATE¬ 
RIALS, ETC. THE KIND OF MATERIALS USED, THE LOADS SUS¬ 
TAINED, AND THE SIZES OF WALL PIERS, ETC. USE OF 
PILES IN FOUNDATIONS, WITH TERMS, ETC. 

PLASTERING, MORTARS, LIMES & CEM¬ 
ENTS. EXTRACTS FROM NEW 
YORK BUILDING LAWS, 

WITH NOTES. 




< < ' By GEORGE T. POWELL, 


A rchitect and Civil Engineer, New York. 


TO WHICH IS ADDED A TREATISE ON FOUNDATIONS, WITH PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
OF THE METHOD OF ISOLATED PIERS, AS FOLLOWED IN CHICAGO, 

By FREDERICK BAUMAN, Architect. 


Revised and Enlarged by the Addition of much new matter, by 

g. t. powen. 

.^ copyright, 



R 3! 

Z1 -i S' 

WILLIAM T. COMSTOCK, PUBLISHER, 
No. 6 Astor Place. 

1884. 


NEW YORK: 



( 












COPYRIGHT, 

1884. 

WILLIAM T. COMSTOCK. 





PUBLISHER’S PREFACE. 


The subject of Foundations although treated of in various works on 
construction has not heretofore, with the exception of one or two small 
manuals, been made the subject of a special book. The importance 
of the subject and the liberal patronage afforded the first edition of 
this work had led the publisher to believe a second edition thoroughly 
revised and brought down to the present date would prove valuable 
to those engaged in designing and constructing large and important 
structures. After consultation with the author it was decided to re¬ 
cast the whole thing and make it practically a new work. With this in 
view it has been almost entirely rewritten and all new information bear¬ 
ing on the subject gathered into it. 

We regret to say that the author after completion of his manuscript 
was stricken with paralysis and in consequence unable to give his at¬ 
tention to the revision of proofs. This matter, however, has been very 
carefully attended to, and we think will be found free from such inac¬ 
curacies, ambiguities and misprints as had crept into the first edition. 
Since the first edition was brought out there have been many import¬ 
ant structures in process of construction where the subject of securing 
foundations was a serious study, among which might be named, the 
Brooklyn Bridge. The tests made for these structures and other knowl¬ 
edge gained regarding use of cements etc., have been carefully garner¬ 
ed and will be found under their proper headings in the following 
pages. 

On the preservation of timber the author is largety indebted to the 
researches of Maj. Gen. Cram of the U. S. A., and has quoted largely 
from his lecture before the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. 

In order to cover the subject more fully than has been done hereto¬ 
fore the author has found it necessary to increase the number of illus¬ 
trations and very much increase the amount of letter press. 

The practical experience of the author and his careful collection of 
the materials of information on this subject leads us to feel that this 
book will prove to be a valuable aid to Architects, Builders and Engi¬ 
neers in solving the many difficult problems arising where important 
structures have to be erected on treacherous soils. Trusting that the 
same generous patronage will be accorded to it as heretofore we now 
offer it to the building and engineering fraternities. 







































. 




. 



































> 






' 


























CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

Foundation walls on soil or stratum not liable to be affected by 
weather, air or water.—Clay. 

CHAPTER H. 

Foundations in soft ground of considerable depth.—Boring to test 
bottom. — Timber pile foundations. — Foundations in quick¬ 
sand. — Foundations in shifting sand. — Structures built on 
slopes.—Pile driving.—Terms used in pile driving.—Size and 
kind of wood for piles.—To find safe load for pile to carry.— 
Height of ram to fall.—Set of pile at last blow.—Weight of 
rams.—Experiments in Brooklyn Navy Yard.—Protection of 
piles.—Decay and preservation of timber.—Worms in wood on 
land and in open air.—Worms in wood under sea-water. 


CHAPTER HI. 

Excavations.—Rule to be complied with.—Footings and footing 
courses.—Chimneys.—Trenches for footings.—Springs in cellars. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Stone foundations.—Walls.—Brick for footings.—Use of stone for 
building purposes.—Strength of building stone.—Footing stones. 
—Inverted arches.—Table of weight of timbers.—Weight of 
building stones... 


CHAPTER V. 

Arches in walls.—Construction of arches.—Chimney walls and build¬ 
ing the same.—Proportion of brick chimneys.—Masons’ and 
stone-cutters’ tools. — Stone-cutting.— Rubble footings—Bond 
rubble. — Random coursed stone work.—Regular faced and 
squared stone work.—Trimmed and coursed Ashlar facing.— 
List of stones for the exterior of buildings.—Dry area of brick 


9—12 


13—32 


33—41 


42—58 






VI 


CONTENTS. 


or rubble.—Prevention of dampness in cellar walls.—Sylvester’s 
process of repelling moisture from external walls.—Damp.— 
Hollow brick walls.—Floors in damp locations.—Air and water¬ 
tight cements for casks and cisterns.—Cement for external use.— 
Cement to resist red heat and boiling water.—Cement to join 
sections of cast-iron wheels.—Soft cement for steam boilers.— 
Gas-fitters’ cement.—Plumbers’ cement.—Coppersmiths’ cem¬ 
ent.—Composition to fill holes in castings.—Cast-iron cement.— 
Cement for Aquaria... 


CHAPTER VI. 

Front vaults.—Retaining walls.—Slopes.—Table of strength of stone 
for vaults, galleries, etc.—Table of experiments on brick.— 
Table for calculating weight of materials in building.—Law in 
reference to load on floors.—Mensuration of superfices.—Hollow 
walls for buildings.—Building Laws passed Apr., 1871.—Preser¬ 
vation of stone.—Incrustations on brick walls.—Sulphuret of 
lime.—Sand. 77 


CHAPTER VII. 

Preparation of common mortar.—Gravel sidewalks.—To color bricks 
black.—Staining bricks red or black.—Venetian cement. Coal- 
ash mortar.—Puzzolana mortar.—Dutch Terras mortar.—Plas¬ 
tering or stucco.—Inside plastering.—Two-coat work and fin¬ 
ish. Stone mortar.—Stucco. — Scratch coat.—Slipped coat.— 
Cement for external use.—Asphalt composition.—Asphalt mas¬ 
tic.—Asphalt for walks.—Cement for fronts of houses.—Cement 
for tile roof3.—Cement for outside brick walls.—Mexican meth¬ 
od for making hard lime floors.—Selenitic mortar or cement.— 
Selenitic clay.—Mixing selenitic mortar and concrete.—Propor¬ 
tion of sand to lime.—Concrete construction.—Ancient cem¬ 
ents.—Rapidity of set.—Color.—Packing the cement.—Water 
for mixing.—Sand-gravel etc., for mixing with Portland cement. 
—Proportion of cement in mortar and concrete.—Mixing and 
laying Portland cement concrete.— Fineness. — Expanding or 
contracting in setting.—Strength.—Tests of cement.—Hydraulic 
limes and cements.—Salt-water mortars.—Mortars exposed to 
air.—Betons and concrete. — Portland cement.—French beton 
agglomere.—Vicat cement.—Lafarge cement.—Table of Amer¬ 
ican and Foreign cements.—Keene's cement.—Polished work 
of walls.—Stucco on brick-work.—Rosendale cement concrete. 
—Portland cement concrete.—Selenitic lime or cement.—Cem¬ 
ent mortar for brick laying.—Mortar of cement.—Cement mor¬ 
tar for stone masonry.—Cement mortar for brick masonry.— 
Ordinary concrete.—Brick-dust and cement concrete.—Lime and 
cement concrete.—Table of tests of hydraulic and other cements 




CONTENTS. 


VII 


at Centennial Exhibition.—Collingwood on cements.—Roman 
cement.—Vicat’s hydraulic cement.—Stone cement. — Glue.— 
Cement mortar.—Concrete.—Test of Portland cement.—Street 
pavements. — Macadamized roadways. — Artificial stone pave¬ 
ments for sidewalks.—Belgian pavement.—Guidet pavement.— 
Sidewalks.—Method of calculating load on floors. 


ART OF PREPARING FOUNDATIONS 

BY 

FREDERICK BAUMAN, (ARCHITECT.) 

FIRST PART. 

Art of treating the ground.—Solid grounds.—Compressible grounds. 
—Building-ground of Chicago.— Method of isolated piers.— 
Concrete.—Semi-fluid grounds. 


SECOND PART. 

The Base.—Dimension stone.—Rubble stone.—Concrete.—Mortar. 
Base of chimneys. 


/ 


9S-145 


146-163 


163-166 







Foundations and Foundation Walls. 


CHAPTER I. 

Foundations. 

The term Foundation is used to signify the bed or bottom 
of earth, gravel or rock which must be prepared to receive the 
base consisting of footings and foundation walls. The object 
to be attained in the construction of all foundation walls is to 
form solid footings of proper proportion to the superstructure. 

Foundations may be divided into two great classes. 

hirst.—Foundations in situations where the natural soil is 
sufficiently firm to bear the weight of the intended structure. 

Second.—Foundations in situations where artificial supports 
must be provided in consequence of the softness or looseness 
of the soil. E^ach of these classes ma.y be subdivided into many 
kinds under the heading of Engineering works but it is the in¬ 
tention to confine this book more particularly to the founda¬ 
tions of buildings. 

Foundation Walls on Soil or Stratum not liable to be affected 
by Weather, Air or Water. —In building on a natural bottom of 
this kind, it is necessary to level the surface or footing space, 
so that the walls or piers may start from a horizontal bed. If 
irregularities occur in the firm ground, it will be best to fill them 
up with concrete, rather than to use stone or brickwork. Where 
some portions of the foundations start below the level of the 
others, care must be taken to keep the mortar or cement joints 
as close as possible, or to execute the lower portion of the work 
in cement or hard-setting lime mortar. 

Strong gravel may be considered as one of the best soils to 
build upon, as it is not affected by exposure to the atmosphere, 
and is almost incompressible and easily leveled. 



10 


powell’s foundations 


While sand resists compression and makes a firm foundation, 
it must be kept from shifting, or being acted upon by water. 

In many cases it is necessary to drive sheath or board piles 
and use cement. 

Rock or partly solid rock bottom requires good judgment 
and careful handling; for it commonly happens, in the 
area of a large building, that some portions will rest on 
rock and others upon clay or loose gravel, and these differences 
in the character of the soil, are liable to produce irregularities 
in settlement, and are often difficult to make firm enough to 
carry the load of masonry uniformly. A common rule, when 
possible, is to reduce the rock to a certain level, sufficiently 
deep for the footings, and then remove the soft soil, and make 
a bed of say three feet of concrete, bringing the concrete to the 
level of the stone; all of which is explained by the following 
practical illustrations. 

To prepare the surface of stone bottoms of irregular or in¬ 
clined strata, it is necessary to reduce the stone or brick to 
level surfaces, thus—(ill. I and 2.) 



Illustrations i and 2. 


or quarry, excavate, and carry the whole to a common level. 

Beds of Rock with clay are not very safe without artificial 
treatment, especially if there are partings or strata of clay, and 
if they lay in inclined positions. In ill. 3, for instance, when 



























































AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


II 



turning arches, the springing line or base of arch on one side 
might be secure, while the opposite side would be liable to 
move from the pressure of the load on the arch; this may be 
made secure by drilling, and driving iron bars into holes pass¬ 
ing through the strata. 

Clay. —The most deceptive kind of ground to build upon is 
clay. Its insecurity results from the position of its strata, as 
well as its elasticity, from being mixed with marl, etc., and its 
tendency to absorb moisture. In dry seasons it is very firm, 
while in wet seasons it is elastic and unreliable. It is known 
that whole buildings have been injured by the moving of clay 
strata. Of course this insecurity is not likely to occur on level 
strata or firm clay. 

But when the layers of clay are inclined, too much care can¬ 
not be observed, especially where the distribution of the load is 
quite uneven, as for instance in structures where piers, towers, 
or chimneys occur along with solid walls. It is always well to 
disconnect towers. 

When dry clay rammed around foundation walls becomes wet, 
it has a tendency to bulge them. 

All buildings settle a little, if from no other cause than the 
weight of the walls and floors. 

Shifting clay bottoms that are very insecure have been built 
upon by laying round timbers, one foot apart, on concrete ; the 











12 


powell’s foundations 


space between the timbers being laid with concrete, and filled 
to the top of the logs, to receive stone-slab footings. This 
method will do on structures of about thirty feet in height, and 
inexpensive buildings. 

The best soils for foundation walls are: gravel and close 
pressed, hard, sandy earth that will resist the pick—or rock bot¬ 
tom where a horizontal base may be made. 

If there is reason to believe that the earth below is yielding 
it is best in ordinary cases to dig rough wells and fill them with 
stone to the footings in the cellar bottom ; dig say 6 feet be¬ 
low cellar bottom. These wells may be arranged to support 
walls of 40 to 145 feet in height. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


13 


CHAPTER II. 

To Secure Solid Foundations in Soft Ground of considerable 
depth. 

In cases of this kind where the expense of building from a 
great depth to the surface is too great, a number of supports or 
columns can be brought up through the soft ground, on which 
to set wall plates of wood, stone or iron for footing courses. 
There are a variety of ways in which this may be done. 

First: By excavating holes through the soft ground, and fill¬ 
ing with sand; this is done by boring, or driving down a wooden 
pile, then withdrawing it and filling the hole with sand. This 
method is not often used in this country, although if an ample 
number of holes are filled with sand well packed, a secure 
foundation may be obtained. 

Second.—By driving piles of wood either by hand or with 
the ordinary steam engine ; the piles to be driven until they 
are firm and secure in the solid earth, and kept from any side 
movement by bracing with horizontal timber. 

Third.—By screwing piles into the soft ground for a bearing. 
The screw fixtures attached to piles are expensive and are not 
generally used on city buildings. 

The cast or wrought cylinder screw piles are usually from 
3 to 8 in. diameter and have at the foot a cast screw with a 
blade from 18 in. to 5 ft. diameter; they are generally used on 
docks and railroad work and are screwed into clay, marl or sand by 
using capstan bars. On engineering works where many of 
these piles are sunk a special machine is used for the purpose, 
generally worked by steam. This system of piling is too ex¬ 
pensive for buildings and is seldom used except on dock work. 

Certain kinds of soft soil have a tendency to stir into a mud 
batter upon driving piles into them. In this case drive with 
hand power a few guide piles and then build square or parallel 
cribs of timber and fill the space with stone closely packed, also 


14 


powell’s foundations 


rip-rap stone on the outside securely packed; in some cases it 
may be necessary to make a timber bottom secured to the crib. 
When these foundations are made, test them in several places 
with bars of pig iron ; cover an area of io sq. ft. with a load 
four times greater than the total load to be borne, including ma¬ 
terial etc., to each sq. foot of horizontal surface. All calcu¬ 
lations for purposes of this kind vary, but the above test will 
be found satisfactory. 

Fourth.—Excavate or make a cutting into the soft bottom 
and sheath pile with boards braced on both sides and as the ex¬ 
cavation proceeds, sink the sheath piles in courses. When suf- 

♦ 

ficient depth has been obtained, fill in with a concrete composed 
of broken stone, cement and sand. 

Fifth.—By sinking hollow cylinders of cast iron or cast iron 
pipe until they rest upon the bearing strata, removing the soft 
material from the interior of the cylinder to enable it to descend. 
If used to resist sea water the iron should be close-grained, hard 
white metal. This quality of iron is known to have resisted the 
action of saline salts for at least forty years. 

But poor quality of iron is eaten by the salt and soon becomes 
soft. Large cast iron cylinders from two to five feet diameter 
are used for pipes. They are usually cast in lengths, say from 
eight feet to sixteen feet. Short lengths are sometimes connect¬ 
ed by internal flanges or lap-joints—the first pile is sometimes 
provided with a seat, having cutters or a screw fixed with a com¬ 
pression ring after the pile is set. 

On buildings this system of piles may be used with advantage 
for towers, piers, chimneys and heavy structures, but only in 
cases where simpler methods will not answer. 

Boring to test the Bottom. —Boring in common soils or clay 
to test bottom may be made by a common wood augur of two in. 
diameter, This will bring up samples of the soil. The iron of 
the jointed rod should be of the best quality. When the test¬ 
ing has to be made to a considerable depth, it may be necessary 
to drive down a tube of wrought or cast iron, to prevent the 
soil from falling into the open hole. These tubes may be in 
short lengths, for convenience of driving, connected with screw- 
joints, and the earth may be removed from within by a long 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


15 


handled scoop. The important object to be attained in using 
an augur is to learn the character of the underlying strata. An 
accurate knowledge of which can be obtained only by repeated 
boring. 

Timber Pile Foundations. —Timber piles when partly out of 
water are objectionable for permanent structures on account of 
their liabliity to decay. For that reason when they are used 
for foundations they are cut below the water line. The use of 
timber piles is very general in New York City and numerous 
examples may occur to the mind of the reader. We believe this 
an important subject and will explain the use and manner of 
driving these piles. First.—We may consolidate the soft or 
yielding ground by driving piles into k until it becomes so com¬ 
pressed that the piles are prevented from sinking by lateral fric¬ 
tion. The usual method is, after the earth has been removed to 
the depth required, to drive piles from 16 in. to 3 ft. apart as the 
necessities of the case may require, cutting them off to the level 
of the water line. A depth of say two feet of concrete is then 
filled in up to the level of the top of the piles; the hole is then 
planked over to receive the masonry of the superstructure. 
Sometimes the planking is laid, not on the piles but on a net 

! ***.r~~ • / 

./BRICK wall 



' Illustration 4. 
























i6 


swell’s foundations 


work of horizontal timber. In timber piling the load is trans¬ 
mitted only in the direction of its length. There are also many 
cases where stone footings are used and laid directly on the top 
of the piles; but too much care cannot be taken in a case like 
this to obtain security. 

Illustration 4 shows an elevation of framing on top of piles. 
This is the plan adopted in the construction of a factory built 
on the marshes near Hoboken, New Jersey. The building is 
50 by 100 feet, and about 20 feet in height. The piles, of yel¬ 
low pine, were thirty feet in length, and from nine to twelve 
inches diameter. After being driven, they were cut to a level 
of two feet below water-line, and spaced for the outside walls 
four feet to centers. On top of these were placed sills. 12 x 12 
inches; on top of the sills were-framed uprights, 12x12, four 
feet long, braced from all sides ; on top of uprights was placed 
a second sill, that received a twelve-inch wall. The piles for 
wooden pillars through center are eight feet to centers. The 
piles for the chimney and engine-room are about twenty inches 
apart, with timbers crossing each other, forming a foundation for 
stone slabs, on top of which is built the brickwork. The foun¬ 
dation of timber is cross-braced from center to outside; and 
notwithstanding the motion of the machinery, no unequal set¬ 
tling has occurred, although it may have settled one inch be¬ 
fore becoming fixed and solid. 

Foundations in Quicksand.— 

It is not uncommon to find quicksand in New York City. 
In many localities large masses of sand surcharged with water 
until it becomes quick are found at a depth of from 5 to 20 ft. 
In nearly all cases there is a mixture of leaden colored silt or 
soapstone slime. This is a kind of marl nearly white when it 
is dry, but when mixed with the sand holds a large amount of 
water. It is often the case in excavating through quick-sand 
that strata of this blue marl occurs ; it is tough and hard to 
move but it is utterly unfit for Foundations of any kind. An¬ 
other difficulty often occurs when layers of cemented clay and 
gravel are found. It is slow to dig with shovels or picks, and 
can only be taken out in small quantities, adding greatly to the 
expense. In nearly all cases where quicksand is found it will 
be necessary to provide hand or steam pumps with leaders or 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


1 7 

gutters, to remove the water. It is useless to attempt the re¬ 
moval of the sand and ooze until the water is drawn off and 
where any natural drainage can be obtained, channels should be 
made in every direction possible. It is often necessary in this 
kind of soil to provide temporary platforms and roadways, 
while making the excavation, as the disturbance of the soil con¬ 
sequent upon prosecution of the work is liable to make a slough. 
Where there are large masses of quicksand which are imprac¬ 
ticable to remove, owing to locality or surroundings, drive piles, 
not disturbing the soil more than is necessary, and secure them 
to horizontal timbers, forming cribs, then brace the whole and 
fill the interstices with concrete made of broken stone, sand 
and lime. 

One way to proceed to secure footing in this soil is to drive 
sheath piles on the outside and inside line, leaving the space 
between to be excavated. Brace the sheath piles adding sec¬ 
tion after section, as the excavation proceeds. Have prepared 
concrete enough to fill in each section, proceeding in this way 
until the work is completed. 

Where the soil offers no resistance to sheath pile or brace, 
construct long wooden cases with sides and bottoms (Caissons) 
made of 2 or 3 in. boards securely bolted and framed together. 
Set these in sections and in the position where they are to be 
lowered ; they are then to be loaded to the top with rough con¬ 
crete and sunk with their own weight to the depth required. 
Tests may be made by loading these cases with iron to the 
average weight, per sq. ft., expected to be borne. The combi¬ 
nation of quick sand, marl, hard-pan, etc., found in excavations 
is often carelessly passed by and ordinary broad footing stones 
used, resulting in many cases in unequal settling and the ruin 
of fine buildings. Broad footings of stone are allowable where 
the soil is not too soft, but two or three courses should be laid 
with a batter of half their thickness. 

To build Foundations on shifting sand. 

In speaking of this subject it will be well to state, that the 
place, condition of sand and the opportunity to secure the bot¬ 
tom of the structure will vary so much that these directions 
will hardly apply to every case. Excavate an open space in the 


i8 


powell’s foundations 


sand larger than the base of the structure, lay timber footings, 
parallel with the line of the walls, cross them with timbers un¬ 
til a solid platform is prepared and pin them together with oak 
or metal pins. Then make a diagonal cover of say i 3-4 in. 
rough boarding, either nailed or pinned ; on this platform or 
deck run sill plates to the size of the frame required and se¬ 
cure them to the timber footings, and on these sill-plates set the 
corner posts and put in braces ; then erect the frame construc¬ 
tion as may be necessary for the purpose. This platform or 
deck will require inclosing sides, thus making a large box to re¬ 
ceive the sand. The load of sand will balance and hold in po¬ 
sition the whole structure. It is estimated that each cubic ft. 
of space in a frame structure will average 15 lbs. and each cubic 
ft. of sand 105 lbs. or seven times heavier than the frame ; now 
if the frame is 35 feet high the box must be loaded with sand 
5 feet deep. As an additional security long horizontal timbers 
with timber anchors may be extended from the bottom of the 
box. It is important to load the bottom of the structure and 
place it below the wash of the water. The weight of the sand 
alone need not equal the weight of the structure provided it is 
heavy enough to secure the foundations from shifting. 



Illustration 5. 






































AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


19 


Illustration 5 represents the foundations of a factory building 
erected near the edge of the water line in the marshes of Long 
Island. The soil is a stiff black muck. Trenches were cut 
through this four feet wide, and averaged six feet deep to a par¬ 
tial quicksand bed. The building is 50 by 80 feet; two stories, 
16 feet each; with four feet of brickwork, above ground, to 
level of first floor. The walls above are sixteen inches thick. 
After the trenches were dug, a bedding of ten inches in thick¬ 
ness of concrete was laid. On top of this two inches spruce 
plank are laid crosswise, followed with 8x8-inch timber, laid 
parallel with the trenches, and the spaces filled in with con¬ 
crete. On this are laid the base stones, on top of which is 
built a twenty-inch brick-wall. The trenches on each side of 
wall were filled up with sand. 

This factory has an engine, boiler, machinery and shafting, 
with an hundred operatives. No settling has occurred. 

Structures built on slopes are always liable to slide. In prac¬ 
tice this is avoided by cutting horizontal steps in the slope, but 
great care should be used in erecting the walls to thoroughly 
bond the stone at all stepping places. Such work should pro¬ 
ceed slowly so as to avoid unequal settling as the greater quan¬ 
tity of mortar in the wall on the lower portions of the slope 
will cause much greater settling there than in the walls on the 
upper part of the slope and a consequent breaking of joints at 
the stepping places. The foundations should be leveled in as 
long sections as possible and the footings carefully laid, especial¬ 
ly at the stepping places. 

Pile Driving —The usual method of driving piles is by a suc¬ 
cession of blows given by a heavy block of wood or iron, called 
a ram, monkey or hammer, which is raised by a rope or chain, 
passed over a pulley fixed at the top of an upright frame, and al¬ 
lowed to fall freely on the head of the pile to be driven. The 
construction of a pile-driving machine is very simple. The guide 
frame is about the same in all of them : the important parts are 
the two upright timbers, which guide the ram in its descent. 
The base of the framing is generally planked over and loaded 
with stone, iron, or ballast of some kind, to balance the weight 
of the ram. The ram is usually of cast-iron, with projecting 


20 


powell’s foundations 


tongue to fit in the grooves of frame. Contractors have all sizes 
of frames, and of different construction, to use with hand or 
steam power, from ten feet to sixty feet in height. The height 
most in use is one of twenty feet, with about twelve hundred 
pound ram. In some places the old hand-power method has to 
be used to avoid the danger of producing settling in adjoining 
buildings from jarring. 

Piles should be driven to sink not more than one inch to the 
last blow of the hammer. The hammer used should be equal 
in weight to the pile. The common size of piles is ten to four¬ 
teen inches in diameter, and they are driven with hammers or 
rams weighing twelve hundred to two thousand pounds each. 
The diameter of the pile should be about one-twentieth of the 
length. 

The present way of driving piles with steam power is very ob¬ 
jectionable where permanent structures are to be built, as the 
severe and frequent jarring is liable to work the soil into a soft 
mass. 



Illustration 6. —Piles, &c., showing Water Line. 


Terms used in Pile Driving. —A Pneumatic Pile is a metal 
cylinder and is driven by atmospheric pressure, the air being 
exhausted from within. 

A Hollow Pile is a cylinder which is sunk by excavation pro¬ 
ceeding inside. 

A Screw Pile has an augur at the lower end, and is sunk by 
rotation, aided by pressure. 

A Close Pile is one of whole timber, set close to the others. 

A False Pile is an additional length added to a pile after 
driving. 




















AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


21 


A Filling Pile is to fill the space between gauge piles. 

A Foundation Pile is one for supporting a structure. 

A Gauge Pile is a preliminary pile to mark the desired course. 

A Guide Pile limits the field of operation. 

A Sheet Pile is of half timbers in contact, filling the gaps be¬ 
tween gauge piles. 

A Wale is a horizontal string-piece to bind the piles. 

Pile Hoop , a band around the top to prevent splitting. 

Pile Shoe, the metallic point. 

Test Pile, the first pile driven to test the bottom and should 
be not less than six inches in diameter. 

i 

Size and Kind of Wood for Piles. —Piles are generally round, 
and from nine to eighteen inches at top, and should be straight 
and clear of bark and projecting limbs, etc. But where piles 
are exposed to the rising and falling of tides, for wharves, tres¬ 
tle-work, etc., they are considered to be the best if driven with 
the bark on. Trees are sometimes selected for this purpose ; 
and when the foliage is full, just on the change, the tree is gir¬ 
dled—that is, the bark near the bottom is separated by cutting 
it off sufficient to kill the tree, and two or three months later 
the trees are felled. This method shrinks the bark close to the 
wood. 

White pine, spruce, or even hemlock answer very well in soft 
soils. Florida yellow pine makes the best for general use but oak, 
elm and beech for the more compact soils. Piles are generally 
spaced from two to four feet to centres. Squared piles and ta¬ 
pering ones will not bear equal loads. All should be as near 
uniform in size as possible. 

All timber, driven into the earth, having the common name 
of piles, may be divided by calling those that stand on solid foun¬ 
dations Posts, and those that depend on the friction of the earth 
and its constituents Piles, these last require to be considered 
very carefully for their sustaining power. Although piles may 
resist the hammer it is sometimes difficult to tell whether the 
resistance is from having reached a firm strata or as only caused 
by friction. In such cases always allow a large proportion for 
safety, and bind the piles together, or brace them. In nearly 
all calculations that are made for pile driving, the calculations 


22 


powell’s foundations 


are based on the soil being homogeneous , that is, assuming the 
soil to be the same kind all the way down. Now this seldom 
occurs, as there may be alluvium, clay, gravel, marl, shale or 
pebbles, and some variety occurs in nearly all localities. As it 
is difficult to find a locality to suit the formula, it is best to ac¬ 
cept the judgment of experienced builders, who are experts in 
this specialty. 

The force in pounds with which a pile hammer makes its blows 
upon the head of a pile is very indefinite, as all the rules differ 
very much. Correct data may be gathered from actual tests, as 
follows : In the fine stone London Bridge crossing the Thames 
each pile sustains eighty tons. They are driven only twenty 
feet in the stiff blue London clay, and are four feet to centres, 
and are twelve inches diameter in the middle. This proved too 
much of a load. At about three feet on centres they would have 
had only forty-five tons to sustain. Trautwine states that at the 
Chestnut Street bridge, Philadelphia, the greatest weight on any 
pile is eighteen tons. Mr. Kneas had the piles driven until they 
sank three-quarters (.75) of an inch, .under each blow, from a 
1200-pound hammer, falling twenty feet. Here we have the fall 
in inches : 20 x 12 = 240 inches, divided by .75 = 320 x 1200 
lbs. = 384.000 lbs., divided by 8, = 48.000 lbs., or 21 1-4 tons 
safe load; but it is best in practice to use only one-half of the 
estimated safe load. 

The refusal of a pile intended to support a weight of thirteen 
and a half tons, can be safely taken at ten blows of aram of 1350 
pounds, falling twelve feet, and depressing the pile eight-tenths 
of an inch at each stroke. 

Some engineers consider a pile safe for a load of twenty-five 
tons when it is driven to the refusal of 1350 pounds, falling four 
feet, not to sink more than four-tenths of one foot under thirty 
blows. On mud and marsh bottoms it is best not to load the 
piles more than one-quarter of the above amount. 

The following are a number of rules for calculations in refer¬ 
ence to the strength and bearing capacity of piles. 

To find the Safe Load which the Pile is to Carry. —Given : 
The weight of ram, the height the ram falls in inches, and the 
set of pile at last blow, in inches. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


23 


Rule —Multiply the weight of ram by the height it falls, and 
divide the product by eight times the set of pile at last blow. 

To find tlie Height for the Ram to Fall in Inches. —Given : 
The set of pile at last blow in inches, the safe load which the 
pile is to carry in cwts. (of 112 pounds), and the, weight of ram. 

Rule —Multiply the safe load which the pile is to carry by 
eight times the set of pile at last blow, and divide the result by 
the weight of ram. 

To find the Set of Pile at last Blow. —Given : Weight of ram, 
height the ram has to fall in feet and the safe load the pile is re¬ 
quired to hold in cwts. (of 112 pounds.) 

Rule —Multiply the weight of the ram by the height it falls, 
and divide the product by eight times the safe load which the 
pile is to carry. 

To find the Weight of Rams in cwts. (of 112 pounds.)— 

Given : The set of pile at last blow in inches, the height the 
ram is to fall in inches , and the safe load the pile is to carry in 
cwts. (of 112 pounds.) 

Rule —Multiply the safe load the pile is to carry by eight 
times the set at last blow, and divide the product by the height 
the ram falls. 

Pile drivers who are experts know when their piles strike rocks, 
and sometimes band the tops to prevent them from swaying. 

The following are the results of experiments on piles at Fort 
Montgomery : The piles were twelve to sixteen inches in diame¬ 
ter, and nine to fourteen inches at the smallest end, and were 
from twenty-nine to thirty-three feet long after cutting; They 
were of spruce, and weighed about forty pounds per cubic foot, 
and were driven with a ram or hammer of 1630 pounds, at a 
height of thirty-five feet. The last blows made them sink from 
two and a half to six inches. Compressibility of soil about 
one-eighth of its entire bulk. 

Experiments at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. —The piles were 
twelve to eighteen inches at top, and seven inches at foot; 
length of piles after cutting averaged thirty-two feet; weight of 
ram, 2240 pounds, and height of fall twenty-five feet. Average 
number of blows, seventy-three. They were driven into fine 
sand, uniform in quality. 


24 


powell’s foundations 


In starting all work of pile driving, a test pile, of six or 
eight inches diameter, should be driven to test the bottom, and 
of about the same length that it is the intention to drive the 
Foundation Pile. 

A number of piles driven for piers, and a cast-iron cylinder 
sunk around them, and secured at the top, the earth removed 
from the inside, and the cylinder filled with concrete, makes an 
excellent foundation. 

Where timber foundations have to be constructed, and the 
posts or piles of wood are exposed to the rising and falling of 
tides and sea-water, they are liable to the attacks of wood-boring 
worms that will destroy ordinary timber in three to five years. 
One of these is the Limnoria Terebrans , and is about three 
sixteenths of an inch long. These little creatures, assisted by 
the action of the sea, will soon cut a pile through, as the sur¬ 
face rots rapidly after being perforated by them. The other is 
the Teredo Navalis , and is also known as the ship-worm. It 
will penetrate the wood from fifteen to twenty-five feet below 
mean low tide. It is found in most countries. It grows to 
about three inches long, and one-quarter inch diameter, and has 
a head like an auger, with the point gone. They leave very 
small holes where they have entered, which would not attract 
attention, while inside the wood is completely honey-combed. 
Their attacks are generally confined to timber above low water 
mark. Mr. C. G. Smith, C. E., mentions the ship-worm, and 
gives some particulars about the kind of wood that will remain 
sound longest in sea-water. 

TABLE. 

Beach (with Payne’s patent process) .... 10 years, 7 months, first decay. 

Teak Wood (East India).5 years, 6 months, first decay. 

English Oak (Kyani/.ed) .... 5 years, good; 10 years, 0 months, unsound. 

British Ash.3 years, good; 5 years, 0 months, unsound. 

American Oak.3 years, good; 5 years, 0 months, unsound. 

Pitch Pine.3 years, good; 5 years, 0 months, unsound. 

Yellow Pine.3 j^ears, good; 4 years, slightly unsound. 

It appears that they do not so frequently attack bark, as it 
kills them before they penetrate. If the outside could be shrunk 
with heat, slightly charred, and coated with carbolic paint, mixed 
with Trinidad asphalt, it is thought this would give great pro- 







AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


25 


tection. Copper lining has sometimes been resorted to, but 
this is too expensive for general use. There is an English Sili¬ 
cate Paint used, not readily affected by water ; and when there 
is a covering on the silicate of asphalt of tar and oil, it tends to 
repel their attacks. 



Illustration 7.— Wrought or Cast-iron Shoes to Piles. 


Another method : All that portion of the pile exposed to the 
action of sea or fresh water, should have a coat of crude carbol¬ 
ic paint. When this has dried, put on a coat of asphalt hot, and 
wrap coarse canvas or bagging fabrics spirally around the pile, 
saturated with hot asphalt; and when this has set, finish with 
another coat of asphalt hot. After this it is ready to drive. 
Piles treated this way are not attacked. 

Before closing this chapter, I will state that “it is important 
that every foundation, for either large or small structures, should 

be prepared to sustain the load of the walls, the materials of the 

« 

building, and the load to be sustained on each floor.” The re¬ 
sult of these, added together, gives the load to be sustained 
(with an average of thirty pounds per square foot on roof for 
snow). And the foundations should be made so firm that no doubt 
will arise about their being insecure. 

In connection with Driving Piles. —It is often found neces¬ 
sary to protect the work above ; and paint the iron fastenings. 
Several kinds of paint are used, lead paint is generally too expen¬ 
sive, and hence the use of Bituminous Paints. A paint made 
from bitumen, dissolved in parrafine and linseed oil when very 
hot, has special qualities of durability, and will resist alkalies 
and acids.—A tar varnish composed as follows is very good: 30 



















































2 6 


powell’s foundations 

gallons fresh coal tar, 6 lbs. tallow, i 1-2 lbs. rosin, 3 lbs. lamp 
black, and 30 lbs. freshly slacked lime ; mix and apply hot: When 
dry, this varnish will receive on its surface any color of oil paint. 

Decay and Preservation of Timber, from a Lecture delivered 
at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Penn., by Maj. Gen’I. 
Cram, U. S. 

Decay and Preservation of Timber. — I have known oak and 
pine beams, encased in solid brick masonry where hardly any 
air or moisture could reach, perfectly rotten after eleven years 
of such imprisonment. 

Nor can it be maintained that all kinds of untreated wood ex¬ 
posed to soil, air and water will very speedily decay. The 
speediness of decay of timber thus exposed will depend 
upon the kind of wood, the particular acids or salts in 
the soil, the climate where the timber is to be used, and the 
thickness of the sticks. To illustrate this, it is-only necessary 
to adduce a few facts which have come under my own observa¬ 
tion, also some well authenticated circumstances coming under 
the observation of other engineers of constructions. 

In houses of the old dilapidated town of Chagres, lignumvitae 
mudsills were found, after lying seventy-two years upon the 
ground, perfectly sound. This induced the engineers of the 
Panama R. R. Co., to replace their first ties, which were of the 
very best Georgia pine, and which lasted not to exceed three 
years, with lignumvitae brought from Darien, at a cost (in 1855) 
of $ 1.00 per tie. The same Georgia pine taken to a northern 
climate would have lasted as railroad ties seven years, at least, 
before requiring renewal. 

Red cedar heart in its natural state as fence posts and mud¬ 
sills has lasted fifty years in the clay and gravelly loam in nor¬ 
thern climates without appreciable decay, but in strong lime soil 
it yields in less time ; while white or yellow cedar will last only 
from fifteen to twenty years before it will become decayed in a 
similar exposure and soil. 

In the rich bottom lands of Wisconsin, I saw the original 
massive white oak trunks exhumed as it were from beneath the 
mucky ground, where they had been upturned by an ancient 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


27 


tornado, and timber made from them in 1842 ; the wood was then 
perfectly sound after an age of centuries, and the timber made 
from them, used in a construction under cover, is at the present 
time as sound as ever. 

The untreated “redwood” of California, in contact with soil 
from volcanic debris, I found, on testing its durability, quite as 
lasting as our red cedar, though it is by no means the same kind 
of wood. It is weak and brittle ; neither is it the same kind of 
wood as the “mammoth trees” of that State. 

1 have found our northern red cedar, treated with the old Ky- 
an process, an infusion of corrosive sublimate, after twenty-two 
years’ exposure lying on a slope of strong limy soil, to have gone 
to decay, especially the lower ends of the sticks, and kyanized 
white oak of Michigan, resting upon the same kind of dirt, dozed 
and rotted twenty years after the treatment. 

Chestnut railroad ties grown upon the barrens of Maryland, 
kyanized and laid upon a limy soil some miles north of Baltimore 
in 1838, I saw tested eleven years afterwards and then perfectly 
sound, and more solid than when laid ; while those of the same 
kind of wood, untreated, but laid at the same time in the same 
kind of soil and exposure with the treated ones, lasted only sev¬ 
en years before they required renewal. 

This experiment of kyanizing timber was the first, I believe, 
ever practiced in our country. Ties enough were treated for 
one mile of track, costing twelve and a half cents per cubic foot 
of timber. The process, however, was so unhealthy, salivating 
all the men, it had to be abandoned. It would be worth while 
to ascertain if those kyanized ties are yet sound. At that time 
the untreated ties cost only fourteen to sixteen cents. 

The original growth of white soft pine of New England, in 
fence boards untreated and not touching the ground, has been 
known, after an exposure of more than fifty years, to be free from 
all signs of decay, while heavy sticks of timber of the same wood 
and similar exposure were found much decayed in a shorter 
period. White spruce and red hemlock of that part of our coun¬ 
try I found, on examination, untreated, would only last, the for¬ 
mer eleven years, and the latter nine years, while white hemlock 
is more durable than either. 

Untreated white oak and white elm piles, which must have 


28 


powell’s foundations 


been driven at least forty years, I have found perfectly sound 
all below and for one or two feet above water, their tops being 
injured only by abrasion. In these waters there is no need 
of treating by any antiseptic the timbers to be placed under 
water. 

But for all the horizontal-side, end and tie timbers above the 
first foot above water, the experience is quite different. As a 
general rule, I have found these timbers to show decay in seven 
years after being laid without treatment; and yet many have 
lain from twelve to fifteen years ; but then they have become so 
rotten as to be blown away by the winds or torn off by the waves. 
Without treatment, therefore, by some antiseptic we cannot re¬ 
ly upon the timber in these superstructures lasting more than 
seven years without need of renewal. 

In the pier superstructures, we have used chiefly white and 
hard or red pine and white oak. The vast amount of beautifully 
shaped timber for the sizes we need, but deemed as too inferior 
in quality for these superstructures, growing, however, in 
the vicinity of the lake shores, such as hemlock, white cedar, 
bass, fir, white and black ash, hickory, white elm, beech, syca¬ 
more, etc., etc., are utterly ignored. An antiseptic that would 
materially, say double or triple the period of decay in these 
would enable us to bring them into use, at a cost for the un¬ 
treated timber considerably below that of pine and oak. 

The ancient Egyptians must have known of antiseptics for 
preserving wood. Their old wooden coffins, after 2,000 years, 
have been brought to light; and a gentleman of much experience 
in the causes of decay and means of “preservation of wood,” has 
informed me, he “has seen several of these split to pieces, and 
that the wood (sycamore) was perfectly sound and strong; the 
wood seemed to have been impregnated with a bituminous sub¬ 
stance. The coffins were ‘dug outs’ from solid blocks of the 
wood, leaving a hole in the top to insert the corpse, and having 
a lid carved and ingeniously fitted to enclose the aperture.” 
Now sycamore, as we know it, untreated, is not a very lasting 
wood. Whether the lost art is to be recovered by the use of 
modern antiseptics remains to be seen by future generations. 

Worms in Wood on Land and in the Open Air .—There is a 
destructive attack by these upon wood of the trees which have 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 29 

been cut into logs, out of which timber and lumber are to be 
manufactured at the mill. 

The trees are generally felled, and immediately cut into lengths 
suitable for these logs, in the winter, and either hauled to the 
mill during the same winter or rafted to it early in the spring 
and sawed during the same spring and succeeding summer. In 
this way the eating by the worm is in a great measure avoided. 
But if the logs of almost any kind of wood are allowed to lie over 
the summer on the ground, they almost invariably become eaten 
unless they are “drossed,” which means, to hew off their bark. 
Peeling the bark of the hemlock in June for tanneries, will pre¬ 
vent the worm in this kind of wood. 

If the season, however, is very wet and cold, logs with their 
bark on are less liable to attack where they lie over ; and if they 
are “boomed,” or put into a “log bay” of fresh water, they are 
preserved from this kind of. worm, unless the eggs of the larva 
are laid in the logs before they can be put into the water, in 
which case the larva are known to develop into the living worm 
in six months after sawing and sticking up the stuff, which, though 
apparently free from the worm when piled, soon becomes great¬ 
ly injured, as many a pile of supposed valuable timber has shown. 

When a thrifty tree, however, is overturned by the roots and, 
after dying, cut into saw-logs or hewn, no worms will be found 
in the wood. 

Some of the very best lumber comes from wind-falls after the 
trees have been dead for years, taking care, however, not to 
sever the rooty mass from the trunks while green. These facts 
led to the explanation of the manner in which these worms are 
produced in saw-logs and green timber recently felled by the axe. 
A small insect easily penetrates by the ends of the green log 
along through its whole length in the palatable juices between 
the dark and sap wood and deposits her eggs, which very rapidly 
develop into eating worms. No doubt there are various kinds 
and sizes of these preying upon wood, and among which may be 
classed the ants, which are so destructive to wood in tropical 
climates. 

A wind-fall, with its up-turned roots having earth attached, 
affords no access to the insect ; and when the green logs are 
“drossed,” there is no bark shelter for the insect which dreads 


30 


powell’s foundations 


the water so much that it will not enter the logs after an immer¬ 
sion in fresh water. 

It seems to me that if the lumber manufacturer has the ill 
luck of being compelled to allow the green logs to lie over on 
the ground, the besmearing of the ends with some cheap bad 
smelling paint might prevent the access of the insect. 

Worms in Wood under Sea-water. — These, I have observed, 
on our sea-coasts, seldom work upon piles and dock-facing tim¬ 
bers, except in those parts standing between half ebb and half 
flood tides ; in the space between these two planes, however, 
their operations are indeed wonderful and dreadfully destructive. 
On some of the European coasts, I think They range in their at¬ 
tacks from extreme low to nearly high tide. 

It is not very many years since it was believed these worms 
could only exist in the tropical climates, and that they were only 
known in cold climates by being brought in vessel bottoms. But 
this was an illusion which experience has since dispelled. 

As far east as Castine Harbor, Me., they began destroying 
piles and other dock timbers of the best white oak, and so ef¬ 
fectually did their work that renewals had to be made. It is 
believed they were introduced there from old worm-eaten ves¬ 
sels coming home and lying to the docks until the vessels no 
longer afforded substance for boring, then the worms forsook, 
and resorted to the piles and dock timbers. No oak has for years 
been tised there for the renewals. Yellow pine is used, and as 
long as the resin remains in the wood, it is comparatively free 
from the worm ; but after a few years, the resin becomes washed 
out, then the worms commence the havoc in good earnest. 

In various places on our Atlantic coast from Maine to Mexico, 
and on our own Pacific coast, this annoying and costly evil ex¬ 
ists. There, I have observed, no vessel or wood structure, ex¬ 
cept as high up as about where the fresh water and the tide 
water meet, is safe from this evil. The remedy of covering the 
exposed parts with the sheet copper is only effectual until the 
sheathing becomes punctured, torn, or abraded off, then the 
worms immediately enter. 

In the bay of San P'rancisco, the worms are very active and 
produce great havoc. They bore deep into the piles and dock 
timbers, leaving hardly any part within their range unperfor- 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


31 


ated, but the tubular track of one never pierces across the tube 
bored by another worm. Their instinct teaches them scrupu¬ 
lous respect for each other’s way. In a period of less than four 
years they will destroy the piles. And there are worms that 
wield their mandibles with such extraordinary power as even to 
bore into solid rock. 

In the lower part of the Sacramento river, just above where 
it enters Suisune Bay, the banks at low tide expose all along for 
one or two miles innumerable hard, compact sand-boulder rocks. 
In carrying a military survey along these banks, I observed in 
hundreds of the rocks deep tublar holes of from one-half to 
three-eighths inch in diameter, running straight in, some to the 
depth of eighteen inches. Every hole was lined with a perfect 
coating of beautiful white enamel as hard as glass. At the bot¬ 
tom of each hole there was invariably a worm found, who had 
bored for himself a habitation into the rock. These extraordi¬ 
nary mandibular worms, if not the same kind, are about the 
same size, I judged, as the smaller kind of salt water borers 
called limnoria. 

The piles used in the San Francisco waters, are chiefly Ore¬ 
gon spruce and Oregon pine. An antiseptic that will preserve 
wood there will not fail to be favorably received. 

New processes for preserving timber are being constantly in¬ 
troduced. Prof. Chas. A. Seely and W. T. Pelton are the 
patentees of some processes. 

The method of application patented by Professor Charles A. 
Seely, of New York, in 1867, is a modification of, and an un¬ 
doubted improvement upon Bethel’s process, in being applicable 
to green, water-logged wood, and with far more efficiency even 
to seasoned wood, differing materially, however, in the mode of 
application of the dead oil, This new process consists of im¬ 
mersing the wood in a closed iron tank of the oil, raising the 
whole to a temperature between 212° and 300°F. This action 
is allowed to go on until the moisture or water contained in the 
wood is expelled, or has escaped in the shape of steam. The 
water being supposed thus expelled, and the pores containing 
little or no steam, the hot oil is suddenly replaced by a bath of 
cold oil, condensing all the remaining steam, and thereby leav¬ 
ing a total or partial vacuum in the wood cells, into which the 


32 


powell’s foundations 


oil immediately rushes, impelled by the hydrostatic pressure of 
the oil, and the pressure of the atmosphere, favored also by 
capillary attraction. 

Those who favor this process claim for it the following re¬ 
sults: 

ist. The effect of the hot bath is to sufficiently season the 
wood, and destroy or coagulate all the albumen and expel the 
water and other fluids from the pores. 

2d. The effect of the cold bath is to impregnate the wood 
cells with the antiseptic (carbolic acid), and at the same time 
stuff, as it were, the pores that will for a long time after expos¬ 
ing the timber to the air, variations of atmospheric tempera¬ 
ture, soil, rain, salt or fresh water, resist absorption of destruct¬ 
ive agents from all these sources, the borers in salt water, 
worms on land, and white ants in tropical climates inclusive; 
and also prevent the rusting of iron bolts, spikes, nails, etc., 
that may be driven in the treated wood. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


33 


CHAPTER III. 

Excavations. 

Under this heading it is thought best to give abstracts of a 
revised ordinance of New York City, relative to the Construc¬ 
tion of Vaults (similar laws in reference to vaults and areas 
should exist in other cities) with the rates to be paid on per¬ 
mits, i. e. : 

“A permit must be taken out before excavation, or legal pro¬ 
ceedings will be instituted against the owner or builder.” 

“Sec. i. Empowers the Department of Public Works to 
grant permits for the construction of vaults in the streets, pro¬ 
vided, in their opinion, no injury will come to the public there- 
by. 

“Sec. 2. Forbids the construction of vaults in any street in 
the City of New York without permission in writing from said 
board, under the penalty of one hundred dollars. 

“Sec. 3. Applicants for permits must state the name of the 
owner of the premises in front of which the vault is to be built ; 
the purposes for which the building is or is intended to be used ; 
the number of square feet to be occupied by the vault, includ¬ 
ing its walls; and the proposed length and width of the same. 

‘•Rule required to be complied with: — When applications for 
vaults are made, such applications shall in all cases be accom¬ 
panied by a plan drawn upon a scale of one-fourth of one inch 
to one foot, showing the whole area to be built, including walls, 
and designating the open area, if any, and also the space to be 
exclusively used for stairways (see Sec. 15) ; and in case there 
shall be any fire hydrant in front of premises where the vault is 
to be excavated, the position of such hydrant shall be shown on 
such plan, and there shall be a space of two feet left around the 
hydrant. 


34 


powell’s foundations 


“Sec. 4. Requires that payment for each square foot of 
ground to be occupied by the vault shall be made on obtaining 
the permit, under the penalty of one hundred dollars. 

“Sec. 5. Prohibits the construction of vaults beyond the 
line of sidewalks or curbstone, under the penalty of two hun¬ 
dred and fifty dollars. It is to be distinctly understood that the 
permit gives no authority, and it is strictly forbidden, to disturb, 
by excavation or otherwise, any water hydrant, or stop-cock, or 
stop-cock chamber, or water pipe ; or do anything to prevent 
the proper use of any hydrant or stop-cock, or expose them to 
freezing. 

“Sec. 6. Makes it the duty of the person obtaining a per¬ 
mit to deliver to this board a certified measurement by one of 
the city surveyors of the ground occupied by the vault before 
the same is covered, under the penalty of one hundred dol¬ 
lars. 

“Sec. 7. If it appears by such certificate that the vault oc¬ 
cupies a greater number of square feet than shall have been 
paid for, the owner of such vault, and the master builder under 
whose direction the same shall be constructed, shall, in addition 
to the penalty imposed in and by section 4, severally and re¬ 
spectively forfeit and pay twice the sum previously paid, for 
each square foot of ground in excess of the number of square 
feet previously paid for. 

“Sec. 10. During the time of constructing vaults a lamp or 
lantern shall be kept burning the whole of every night, which 
shall be placed so as to cast its light upon the opening, under 
the penalty of ten dollars. 

“Sec. 11. All vaults must be completed and the ground 
closed over them within three weeks after they are commenced, 
under the penalty of five dollars for each day they may remain 
uninclosed after that period. 

“Sec. 12. No area in the front of any building in the City of 
New York shall extend more than one-fifteenth part of .the 
width of any street, nor in any case more than five feet, 
measuring from the inner wall of such area to the building; nor 
shall the railing of such area be placed more than six inches 
from the inside of the coping on the wall of such area, under 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


35 


the penalty of two hundred and fifty dollars, to be recovered from 
the owner and builder thereof severally and respectively. 

“Sec. 14. Every description of opening below the surface of 
the street in front of any shop, store, house or other building, 
if covered, shall be considered and held to be a vault within the 
meaning of this chapter, and the master builder, or owner, or 
person for whom the same shall be made or built, shall be liable 
to the provisions, payments and penalties of this chapter sever¬ 
ally and respectively. 

“Sec. 15. The last preceding section of this chapter shall 
not be constructed to refer to those openings which are used 
exclusively as places for descending to the cellar floor or any 
building or buildings by means of steps. 

“Payments for vault permits must be made on taking out the 
permit, as follows, viz. : 

“I 7 or permission to construct a vault in front of any building, 
seventy-five cents per square foot. 

“Where it is proposed to increase the superficial area of any 
vault, the increased area is only to be paid for at the above 
rates. In such case the surveyor certifying to the dimensions 
of the new vault must also certify to the dimensions of the old 
vault, 

“It will be seen by section 14 that excavations commonly 
known as areas or parts of areas, if covered, are to be paid 
for as vaults, excepting such space only as may be occupied by 
steps for descending to the basement or cellar floor.” 

The preceding laws in reference to vaults and areas are very 
effective in New York, and similar laws should exist in all cities 
to protect the owners of property, pedestrians, vehicles, and 
business generally during the construction of buildings. 

A further permit is required before excavation and the com¬ 
mencement of work in the foundations. This permit has to be 
obtained from a Board known as the Department of Buildings 
in the Citv of New York. Some other large cities in the United 
States have Department of Buildings or some laws that strictly 
pertain to buildings. The requisite information in regard to 
the New York laws on this subject will be given under the 
heading of Walls, etc. 


36 


powell’s foundations 


Excavations. — Twenty-four cubic feet of sand; or, seven¬ 
teen cubic feet of clay ; or, eighteen cubic feet of earth ; or, 
thirteen cubic feet of chalk, equal one ton. One cubic yard of 
earth before digging will occupy about one and one-half cubic 
yards when dug, and contains twenty-one struck bushels, and is 
considered a single load ; or, double this a double load. 


I 


Footings and Footing Courses. — In commencing the erection 
of any building it is usual to spread the bottom courses of the 
masonry beyond the inner and outer face of the walls ; the 
spread courses are termed footings, and distribute the weight of 
the structure over a larger area of bearing surface ; the liability 
to vertical settlement from the compression of the ground is 
greatly diminished. 

In the case of isolated buildings standing on a small base, 
they give a great protection and resist the force of high winds, 
storms, etc. 

For instance, take the case of a chimney shaft one hundred 
feet high, standing on a base ten feet square, and exposed to 
heavy gales. The compression of the ground from the force of 
the wind that would cause a depression of one-quarter of one 
inch, would cause the chimney to be out of centre five inches. 
If the base is increased to twenty feet square, we not only in¬ 
crease the leverage to resist the force of the wind, but the sus¬ 
taining surface is quadrupled; so that the resistance is eight 
times greater than in the first instance. Footings, to be effect¬ 
ive, must be bonded into the body of the work, and of suffi¬ 
cient strength to resist the cross-strains to which they are ex¬ 
posed. It is a common practice among mason builders, whether 
the materials be of brick or stone, to simply comply with the 
requirements of the plans, lay the footings down, pay no regard 
to bonding, and leave the unequal settlement of the walls to 
chance. This, of course, does not occur with men skilled in 
their trades. 

In Building large Chimneys for Manufactories, the size of the 
chimneys and the height should be determined by proper experts, 
and with the opinion of the Engineers. 


Rules for Chimneys The area of the chimney should be 
three-quarters that of the opening over the bridge ; viz : one and 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


37 


onc-half inch per pound of coal consumed ; or, nineteen and one- 
half inches for each foot of fire surface burning thirteen pounds 
per hour. The whole diminution of flue should be gradual, and 
not by any offsets. A common rule for size of chimneys is, that 
the minimum area of chimneys twenty-four to thirty yards high 
is four hundred square inches for each twenty horse power. 

Chimneys of any considerable height should be tied, clamped, 

- or anchored with wrought iron straps, etc., at not less than every 
twenty-five feet in height. 

The highest chimney stack in England is at Bolton ; it is 367 
feet taken from the surface of the earth, octagonal in plan, 14 
feet on each side, and 112 feet girth at bottom. Thickness of 
brickwork at bottom, 8 feet; thickness of brickwork at top, 1 
foot 6 inches ; 5 feet 6 inches on each side at top, or 44 feet 
girth. The top is finished with stone. 

The chimney of the Edinburgh Gas Works is 341 feet 6 inches 
high. It is 329 feet from the surface of the earth. Stone foun¬ 
dations 40 feet 6 inches, by 6 feet 6 inches deep ; 30 feet square 
at ground line, 27 feet 9 inches square at top of stone pedestal ; 
on top of this the brick shaft is 264 feet high ; 26 feet at the 
bottom diameter, and 15 at the top. 

In the construction of large chimneys, and particularly isola¬ 
ted ones, they should be built with great care, the mortar be¬ 
ing prepared every day, of one of lime to two parts of 
sharp sand; or, of cement and sand. The masons should 
change positions and level and true the work often, to equalize 
the difference in the work done by different men ; select com¬ 
petent men for the work. 

The Foundations and Trenches for Footings should be cleared 
of ail rock, rubbish or soil, and leave the site of the intended 
building clear and unincumbered ; and make perfectly level and 
hard the bed of all trenches, and consolidate the earth about 
the same. 

Foundations in cities are usually excavated according to the 
survey furnished by one of the City Surveyors. Outside of the 
city, for suburban or country buildings, the excavations are gen¬ 
erally made direct from the plans. After the earth is removed, 
either in city or country, it is necessary to layout the base-walls 


powell’s foundations 


3S 


of the structure with lines, secured to stakes driven in the ground. 
The common method is to establish one line, call it a base line, 
running parallel with the street line curb or fence line, as the 
case may be. From this, where no side-walls control the lines 
of the building, it may be necessary to produce a line square, 
and at right-angles to the base line, which is usually done thus : 
* Draw the line tight, and as near a right angle to the base line 


s: Q r 


o 

(6 


Sr 


/ 




/ 


/ 




/ 










Illustration 8. 


as possible ; then true it by using a rod laid off in feet. After 
you have commenced, and have a long line to square, it may be 
necessary to increase the triangle in laying out to twelve feet, 
sixteen feet and twenty feet. After this the square may be 
tested on the lines by using a rod thus : 


4 - 8 - 0 ---> 



Illustration 9. 


Take any angle, A, B and C, on one side with three measure¬ 
ments, and try the same on the other side. This has to be 
tested very carefully. Some masons have large wooden squares 


* A Leveling Instrument is now manufactured especially for this purpose. 


I 










AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


39 


for the purpose, the use of which is better than deciding by 
sight, or even measuring on the line. 

Another method of getting a right-angle : To erect a perpen¬ 
dicular line at any point on the base line A B , set one point of 
compass or rod to sweep a radius at B, and describe the arc of a 
circle ; use the same radius, and put one point at i, and inter¬ 
sect the line at 2, then produce a line from 1 to 2. Use 2 as a 
centre of same radius, and draw a curve, then produce and con- 



Illustration 10. 


tinue the line 1 to 2 to 3. Then draw the line from B to 3, and 
this gives the desired angle. After this is done once or twice, 
it is very simple. Circles, polygons or ellipses are best when 
laid out on a wooden template. 

It is best in laying out lines for excavations to set the stakes 
at some distance from where the earth or debris is being re¬ 
moved, and to test the exact angles, by diagonal measurement: 
—This must be done accurately even if a little more time is re¬ 
quired ; as soon as this is done it is important to establish the 
grade line. 

To make a right angle or perpendicular line : Divide the given 
line A, B, into two equal parts, and draw a perpendicular line 
as shown on the illustration No. 11. From the points A and B 
as centres and with any radius greater than one-half A B de¬ 
scribe the two arcs C and D, then draw a line through E to F. 
The line E F will be at right angles to A B. This may be used 
where it is necessary to lay out a large square or lines for centres. 




40 


powell’s foundations 



To draw an Octagon in a given square. From each corner 
of a square, and with a radius equal to half its diameter A to B, 
describe the four arcs ; and join the points at which they cut the 
corners of the square. Illustration 12. 



Illustration 12. 


Springs in Cellars, etc.—After excavations are made for a 
building, either in city or country, there is often found a small 
water-course or spring. In the country it is best to tap the 
spring or line of water-course outside of the building, and take 
it away from the building, and follow a course that will prevent 
its returning and undermining the walls. In cases where this 
cannot be done in the city or country, sink and build with rough 
stone such size cistern as may be required for a flow of water 
for three or four days, and carefully build a drain from cistern, 
following the line of water-course to outside wall, if possible. 

If there is an overflow liable to occur from freshets, tides, 
rain, etc., and the cellar bottom is below the line of sewer, if 
may be considered the best to build cemented cisterns that will 









AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


41 


fill to a certain height and have an indicator to prevent overflow 
or rise of water. These may be emptied by using a small forc^- 
pump. 

If a cellar bottom is located in low ground, or below adjoining 
cellars, and a supply of water seems to permeate the soil, and 
accumulate, it is not safe to use any steam-pump, as it may draw 
water from the surroundings, and weaken the foundation walls, 
unless due precaution has been taken in building. Ordinary 
cisterns and hand-force pumps seem to act the best in such 
cases, by pumping water into a waste-pipe to be carried into 
sewer. If there is no waste-pipe, then it has to be pumped to 
such height that it may be emptied. Where a large spring or 
water-course is found on the cellar line of large structures, it is 
necessary to collect by drains all the water into a cemented cis¬ 
tern, and attach to the engine used in building a small pump 
of sufficient capacity to keep the water below a fixed line forty- 
eight hours, to prevent an overflow. 

As a rule the surface of cellar bottoms should be covered 
with concrete, ranging from four to twelve inches in thickness, 
to form a smooth floor surface. Those that are wet or damp 
(and nearly all are more or less so) should have a layer of as- 
phaltum over the surface, and extended up the sides to a point 
above where the dampness arises (see illustrations 36 and 38). 
The asphaltum, when used, should be protected by laying on it 
a course of bricks, bedded in cement, or an additional layer of 
cement. If a smooth, handsome surface is desired, Portland 
cement should be used for the finish. Rosendale and many 
American cements of the best quality may be used, and bricks 
coated with asphaltum are often used. 


42 


powell’s foundations 


i 


CHAPTER IV. 

Footings — Stone and Brick. Strength of Stones and 
Methods of obtaining secure Foundations. 

Stone Foundations, Walls.— The bottom stones of course 
sustain the load or weight of the building, and hence the 
greater the risk arising from any irregularities in the bedding 
of the stone. To avoid this, the stone should be dressed true, 
no spalls used, and properly bedded. In New York City the 
foundation or base stones—nearly all of which come from quar¬ 
ries on the island—are of Gneiss, a kind of granite, which crops 
out above the surface in irregular strata. The others are com¬ 
mon building stone, and a blue kind of limestone. 

No back joints should be allowed beyond the face of the up¬ 
per work, except where the footings are in double courses, and 
every stone should bond into the body of the work several 
inches at least. Unless this is attended to, the footings will 
not receive the weight of the superstructure and will be useless. 
See Ill. 13. 




Illustration 13. 

In fixing the spread of the footings or foundation courses of 
the masonry or brick-work of ordinary walls the usual rule is to 
make the breadth of the base one and one-half the thickness of 
































AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


43 


the body of the wall on compact gravel, and twice that thick¬ 
ness on sand or stiff clay. 

The following principles should in all cases be observed in the 
building of all kind of stone masonry: To build the masonry as 
far as possible in a series of courses perpendicular to the direc¬ 
tion of the pressure they have to sustain ; avoid all continuous 
joints and break-joints ; use the largest stones for the foundation 
courses ; lay all stones with layers or beds so that the pressure 
will act directly perpendicular to the direction of the layers ; i. 
e. y by laying the stone on its natural bed. This is of primary im¬ 
portance to strength and durability. 

Moisten the surface of dry and porous stone before bedding 
it, which prevents the mortar from drying too fast, and being 
reduced to powder by the stone absorbing its moisture. Fill all 
the joints and all spaces between the stones with mortar; have 
such spaces as small as possible. 

Stone-work is estimated by the perch of twenty-five cubic feet, 
or by the cubic foot. 

Brick for Foundation Footings, etc. —The following are the 
principles to be observed in building with brick: 

First. Reject all bad shaped and unsound bricks. Good bricks 
are regular in shape, with plane surfaces and sharp, true angles. 
They give a clear ringing sound when struck. When broken, 
they show a compact, uniform structure. Should not absorb 
more than one-fifteenth their weight in water. 

Second. Place the beds of the courses perpendicular to the 
pressure which they sustain. Make the bricks in each course 
break-joint with those of the courses above and below, by over¬ 
lapping from one-quarter to one-half of the brick. Cleanse the 
bricks, wet them thoroughly before laying to avoid absorbing 
the moisture in the mortar too rapidly. Fill all the joints with 
mortar, taking care that the mortar shall not exceed one-quarter 
of one inch in thickness ; lay four courses to ten inches, or four 
courses to twelve inches, accordingly as you use different thick¬ 
nesses of brick, and then only allow one-quarter inch for each 
joint. Use no bats or pieces of bricks. 

The volume of mortar required for good brick-work is about 
one-fifth of the volume of the bricks. 


44 


powell’s foundations 


English bond (Illus. 14) in brick-work, is considered the strong¬ 
est. It consists in laying entire courses of headers and stretch- 

' 1 r 

__ \ __ 11 _ 


Illustration 14. 

ers periodically; the proportion here shown is one course of 
headers to two of stretchers. 

In ordinary walls it is usual to lay one course of headers to 
four of stretchers. Flemish bond in brick-work is a header and 
stretcher laid in each course ; thus: (Illus. 15.) 


1 

j 



























Illustration 15. 


4 

This presents a very neat appearance, but it is not considered 
as strong, where a question of strength arises, as the English 
bond. 

In building a factory chimney the longitudinal tenacity is more 
important than the transverse; and it is best, in cases of this 
kind, to have four stretchers to one of headers. 

Brick-work is estimated by the thousand, and also by the cu¬ 
bic foot. Walls vary slightly in thickness, owing to the sizes 
of the brick; but the superficial quantity is the same. 

TABLE OF BRICK-WORK. 


8 or 9 inch wall, 1 brick thick, 14 bricks to the superficial foot. 


12 or 13 

tt 

tt 

1 1-2 

tt 

tt 

21 

it 

tt 

tt 

tt 

16 or 18 

tt 

it 

2 

tt 

tt 

2S 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 

20 or 22 

u 

it 

21-2 

it 

tt 

35 

tt 

tt 

tt 

tt 


The best Philadelphia and Baltimore bricks are eight and one- 












































































AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 45 

half inches long by four and one-quarter inches wide, by two 
and one-half inches thick. 

The Baltimore front and wall brick is the same size as the 
Philadelphia. The average size New York brick is eight inches 
in length, four inches wide, and two and one-quarter inches thick, 
and is mostly made up the North River. Inferior grades of 
brick are made eight inches long, three and one-half wide, 
and two and one-half thick, and some of them sold in the New 
York market are unfit for sound walls. The Croton North River 
brick measures eight- inches by three and three-quarters wide, 
by two and one-quarter inches thick ; average when laid, four 
courses, including mortar, to ten inches. The very handsome 
white brick for ornamental purposes, from Perth Amboy, is 
eight and one-quarter inches long, four and one-eighth inches 
wide, and two and one-quarter inches thick. The Trenton, 
New Jersey brick is eight and three-eighths inches long, four 
inches wide, and two and three-eighths inches thick. The En- 
ameled-faced bricks made in New Jersey are buff, brown, black 
cream, and blue in color, and are eight inches long, four inches 
wide, and two and one-half thick. Hollow burned brick, used 
for hollow brick walls and inside firring of various sizes, are : 

Single, S inches long, 35-8 inches wide, by 2 1-4 inches thick; 

Double, 8 u “ 71-2 “ “ “ 41-2 “ “ 

Treble, 8 “ “ 71-4 11 “ “ 71-4 “ “ 

Hollow arch bricks are about ;■ 1-4 x 7 1-4, beveled for arches, 
and of various sizes. 

Use of Stone for Building Purposes.—“M. Viollet-le-Duc has 
told us how the mediceval constructors made it a rule to place 
stone upon their beds; how in buttresses, arches, and vaulting 
of different kinds the stones were so laid as to receive the thrust 
obliquely or laterally upon their beds ; and how they employed 
only certain stones capable of great powers of endurance which 
are less easily delaminated—i. e, liable to scale off in layers—when 
so fixed. About thirty years ago the late Mr. C. H. Smith, who 
had thoroughly studied the subject of lithology, said that the 
importance of laying stones in buildings upon their beds was 
generally over-rated, and that it signified little which way a stone 
was laid unless it presented a decidedly laminated structure. 


46 


powell’s foundations 


We unhesitatingly maintain that soft, calcareous or limestone 
should be laid in the walls of a building upon its natural bed, 
and that the beds should not be exposed to inclement weather 
after they have been dressed. * ♦ 

It is by no means certain that porous stones are inferior be¬ 
cause of their porousness. 

If stone easily soaks up water it also easily ejects it. Damp¬ 
ness attacking a stone wall from the outside is infinitely less de¬ 
structive than that which attacks it from the inside. Provided 
the action be free from the outside to the inside and not from 
the inside to the outside of a stone the moisture does not serious¬ 
ly injure it. Soft stones for years impregnated with dampness 
have not decomposed even though laid in the basement walls of 
a building. Certain stones which decompose after exposure to 
the air remain intact in water or damp earth. Stone is much 
more likely to decay in damp and sheltered situations than when 
it is exposed to the full action of atmospheric influences; but 
this should be “read between the lines” because in damp situa¬ 
tions stone is not always subject to decay. If the exposed face 
of the stone dries and leaves the heart of the stone unnaturally 
wet the internal moisture will ultimately crystallize upon the 
surface, and during this process a certain amount of decomposi¬ 
tion will take place in the stone itself. 

But if the stone be so placed as to permit the moisture it has 
received from the outside to be drawn away from it in a fluid 
state its component parts will not suffer vital deterioration. 

Limestones suffer quick deterioration when placed next to 
certain sandstones. Various kinds of lime and cement eat in¬ 
to soft calcareous stone, which, besides, contains within itself 
the elements of its own destruction ; and dampness insidiously 
admitted will set in motion these elements of change which in 
a latent state are harmless. 

Rondelet—totally ignoring the fact that in architecture peo¬ 
ple prefer to spend as little money as possible except on exter¬ 
nal show—advises, under similar circumstances, the use of scin- 
tillant or ignescent stones, i. e. those which emit sparks of fire 
when struck with steel, because they effervesce on the applica¬ 
tion of the principle acids ; some kinds however will resist the 
action of fire. Calcareous stone is that which is the most abun- 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


47 


dantly found upon the surface of the globe. It is homogeneous, 
easily quarried and wrought and it adheres to mortar. It is 
perfectly well known that under certain acids, even vegetable 
acids, these calcareous stones effervesce and disintegrate ; and 
that under the action of fire they are converted into quick lime 
and carbonic acid. It has also been observed that a species of 
spider, microscopic in size, is a fertile agent of destruction. 
These insects spin their webs in the almost imperceptible cavi¬ 
ties which abound in limestones ; dust rests upon them and moist¬ 
ure of all kinds is thus attracted, and this, with the incessant 
labours of the insects themselves, is one of the causes of deterio¬ 
ration. (This does not often occur in this country.) We have still 
to allude to an important fact connected with stone of nearly all 
kinds. A natural action takes place in the majority of lime¬ 
stones immediately upon their extraction from the quarry and 
exposure to the air. This action, which in most cases is vital 
in its effects and certain in its results if properly encouraged, 
should not be ignored by architects and builders. The half hard 
and soft stones harden after their extraction. 

All calcareous stones originally contain a certain quantity of 
water which is known as quarry water. Some kinds are only 
a step removed from soft stone, and form upon their surface 
a crest or covering almost impossible to penetrate with the chis- 
. el; while at the depth of half an inch the stone may be scratch¬ 
ed with the thumb nail. This crust is the result of the evapora¬ 
tion of the quarry water. This water coming to the surface of 
the stone brings with it a certain quantity of dissolved carbonate 
of lime which crystallizes and forms the crust above referred 
to. It is twice as easy to work stone with quarry water in it as 
it is when the water has evaporated ; but this is only possible in 
certain climates and seasons. 

Water freezing within the pores of a stone must exercise a 
disintegrating action ; and this action often completely destroys 
the stone for building purposes when quarried in the winter 
and exposed to the influence of frost. 

In the Use of Stone for Building Purposes and Walls generally, 

it is important that the architect and builder should have a fair 
knowledge of rocks and the quarries from whence the stones 


4 S 


powell’s foundations 


are obtained; hence, there is herewith given some concise defi¬ 
nitions of oxides, and the formation of various Rocks found and 
in use for Building purposes generally. 

Lime is oxide of calcium. 

Soda is oxide of sodium. 

Silica or Quartz is oxide of silicum. 

Alumina is oxide of aluminum. 

Rocks:—Feldspar is a double silicate of alumina and an alkali; 
there are many varieties, and it is nearly as hard as quartz. 

Hornblende is a double silicate of iron and alumina : it is slaty 
in structure, but generally a mass of prismatic crystals, some¬ 
times fibrous, but not elastic. Among the varieties is asbestos ; 
which is pulverized and used as fir e-proof painty and woven into 
felt for roofing , etc. 

Syenite is hornblendic granite ; it has the same feldspar and 
quartz as granite, but has hornblende instead of mica; it re¬ 
sembles the mica granites very closely, but does not split well. 

Granite consists of feldspar, quartz and mica: it is the most 
granular of all rocks. The quartz is usually white and glassy. 
Feldspar is light red or yellowish white, and the mica is in little 
packages or sheets of any color to black. Immense quarries of 
all shades of granite are found throughout Maryland, also in 
Virginia, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and in most of the 
United States. The Equitable Building, Broadway, New York, 
is built of Concord Granite ; it is an excellent stone building. 
The Staats Zeitung Building opposite the City Hall, N. Y., is 
built of two kinds of Granite ; the first story is Quincy Granite; 
the other stories are of Concord. The Western Union Build¬ 
ing, N. Y., is built of a light grey granite from the vicinity of 
Richmond, Va. (the bricks on the fronts are from Baltimore). 

Gneiss is a form of stratified granite, obscure and irregular in 
strata ; it is somewhat crystaline ; it is a metamorphic rock, not 
valuable generally for building purposes. 

Schists are rocks composed of finer materials than the gneiss. 
Schists are stratified ; the strata generally lays flat. This is al¬ 
so a metamorphic rock. 

Slates are the finer grained schists. The clay slate is the 
finest grained of the slate ; the talcose slate is the most metallif¬ 
erous, the mica next, and the clay slate next. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


49 


Marble is the purest form of carbonate of lime (except stalac¬ 
tites), and is an earlier formation of limestone, with a pressure 
which retained the carbonic acid. The Marble residence erect¬ 
ed for A. T. Stewart, in New York, is built of selected White 
Marble from the Westchester County quarries of N. Y. The 
Mutual Life Insurance Company Building, of Boston, Mass., is 
built of Marble from the quarries of Westchester County, N. Y. 
The Drexel Building is built of Connecticut Marble. 

Calcite , or Carbonate of Lime consists of transparent crystals 
when pure, but changes color with impurities, becoming white 
marble, or blue, yellow or grey limestones. 

Gypsum or Sulphate of Lime y i. e. } the result of the action of 
the oxide of sulphur on oxide of calcium, is known as Plaster 
of Paris. 

Oxide of Iron is a rock-building mineral, and is diffused 
through nearly all rocks ; makes great rock masses by itself; 
oxide of iron in limestone or sandstone injures it for dressed 
stone surfaces. 

Talc is a silicate of magnesia with some potash and iron, 
greasy of touch; allied species are soapstone and serpentine. 

Serpentine is a greenish melted rock ; it is almost entirely 
made of talc. Some varieties are used for fine masonry. 

Green Stone is composed of feldspar and hornblende ; it is 
granular and very tough and hard ; it is the metamorphic form 
of the igneous rock, diorite. 

Diorite is hornblende and feldspar; is grayish white some¬ 
times with speckles of dark green spots. 

Basalt consists of feldspar, augite and chrysolite, and often 
with iron in small proportions ; it is dark grey or green to black. 
A basalt stone of dark color is extensively quarried in New 
Jersey for rough walls and foundations. 

Dolcrite is basalt with chrysolite left out, and is not so often 
green like basalt. 

White Trap is a pure feldspar ; white trap is used extensively 
in New York for paving stones. 

Sandstone. A Rock composed of sand agglutinated. Com¬ 
pact sandstones are used, for fronts of buildings ; for instance, 
Bellville, N. J., brown stone, or Connecticut brown stone, etc.; 
Friable Sandstone is not suitable for constructive purposes ; 


50 


POWELL S FOUNDATIONS 


Ferruginous sandstone; this becomes discolored in spots; 
Concretionary sandstone ; Micaceous sandstone, is sandstone 
with scales of mica: Argillaceous sandstone contains much 
clay with sand ; also called Shaly stone when thin and laminated. 
Marley sandstone contains carbonate of lime, so as to effervesce 
when treated with weak acid. 

Veins are the crevices and fissures of\ the rocks, filled with 
other substances than the rocks. 

Hydraulic Lime is any combination of lime with very silicious 
clay. 

Marl is simply limestone ; has been so recently formed that 
it has not yet become compacted into solid rock. 

Pozzoulana Tufa is an earthy rock, not very hard, made from 
volcanic cinder, more or less decomposed, usually of a yellowish 
brown color; it is used for hydraulic cement. 

Sand is comminutive or pulverized rock of any kind ; but 
common sand is mainly quartz, or quartz and feldspar. 

Pink and Red Granites —The color occurs in feldspar. When 
used in buildings they produce a fine effect, and can be highly 
polished. Also, when it is the intention to use a stone without 
cutting the surfaces, and only squared with a tooled face, and 
where the edges are axed, it is very fine in effect. Dark-red 
granite, equal to the Scotch, is now quarried in Nova Scotia. 

The foregoing list* gives the average kind of rocks and sand¬ 
stones of the earth used in construction, etc. There are many 
varieties, not necessary to name here, with names peculiar to 
the location of quarries, and varieties with traces of metal, etc. 

Strength of Building Stone. —The strength of the building 
stone used in some parts of this country have been investigated 
by crushing tests at the Columbia School of Mines, at the Navy 
Yard in Washington, and in other places. 

The result of these tests show,* that the strongest of our build¬ 
ing stones are the trap rocks of New Jersey and Staten Island, 
which bear a pressure of 24,000 lbs., per cubic inch. They are 
not used, however, owing to the cost of working them, except 
where the blocks may be fitted together roughly. 

* We are indebted to the book of Mr. F. H. Smith, for the definition of 
some of these terms. 




AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


51 


The strongest granites come from Westerly, R. I., Richmond, 
Va., and Port Deposit, Md. The largest variety of granites 
come from this State and are of all shades of grey, green and 
salmon colors. These will stand a pressure of 17,750, 21,250 and 
19,750 pounds respectively to the cubic inch. Granite is the most 
durable of all stone in every day use. The fine red polished 
granites, so much used of late, come from Peterhead, near Aber¬ 
deen, Scotland, and the bay of Fundy, and to all intents and 
purposes will last forever. 

The strongest marbles come from Lee, Mass., and bear 13,440 
pounds to the cubic inch, and Tuckahoe, N. Y. 12,650 pounds. 
These are stronger than the bay of Fundy granite, which stands 
a pressure of only 11,812 pounds to the cubic inch. Italian mar¬ 
ble will bear 11,250 pounds, and the statuary marble Carrara 
only 9,723 pounds pressure to the cubic inch. 

Good rough marbles are found in Westchester County. The 
strongest limestone comes from Kingston, N. Y. It will resist 
13,900 pounds to the cubic inch, and has the greatest variety of 
colors of all building stone. 

That from Glens Falls takes a high polish and is jet black, that 
from Lockport is gray, and the delicate cream and dove tints are 
found in the Athens and Caen stones. Lighter shades are 
found in the Bermuda and Florida rocks. 

The gray Lockport stone when dressed by the hammer resem¬ 
bles a light granite, and is frequently used for trimming brick 
houses. The cream-colored limestone of Paris basin is very 
soft at first, and would be esteemed by a green hand unfit for 
any purpose, but it hardens when dressed, and can be used for 
the most delicate work: the exposure that would chip the work 
in other stones improving it. The Topeka stone from Kansas 
possesses the same valuable property. When fresh from the 
quarry it can be sawed like wood in any shape. The lime-stones 
that are most valued, however, in this country, come from Dayton, 
Ohio ; they are greatly used by Cincinnati builders. In Chicago 
the favorite limestone is the Athens, before mentioned from 
northern Illinois. The lighter stone comes from the Ohio, and 
belongs to the lower carboniferous. A medium between the two, 
in color, comes from Amherst. Both are excellent for resisting 


52 


POWELL S FOUNDATIONS 


fire. Many of the finest buildings in Cincinnati are built of the 
Waverly sandstone of a light dove color. 

Another rich stone is the St. Genevieve from Missouri, it is 
straw colored and finely grained. All these stones will stand a 
greater pressure than is ever demanded of them, 50,000 pounds to 
the sq. ft., being, perhaps the maximum. The pillars of All Saints 
Church at Angiers sustain a pressure of 86,000 pounds to the 
square foot, and the columns of the Pantheon 60,000 lbs. Build¬ 
ing stones in stores, warehouses and office buildings are often 
used where they carry an actual load of from 60,000 to 75,000 lbs., 
per sq. foot. Where the load is excessive it is always best to en¬ 
large the piers, or add brickwork to distribute the load. 

Footing Stones.— 

Flags or slabs of stone that are thin make poor footings, where, 
in proportion to the weight of the superstructure, they are car¬ 



ried out to get a greater bearing. When this is done, the stone 
will often rend, and become displaced, through the whole batter, 
as may be seen in Illustration 16. 

In building large masses of work, such as the abutments of 
bridges and the like, the proportionate increase of bearing sur¬ 
face obtained by the projections of the footings is very slight, 
and there is a great risk of the latter being broken off by the 
settlement of the body of the work. It is therefore usual in 
these cases to give very little projections to the footing courses, 
and to bring up the work with a battering face, or with a suc¬ 
cession of very slight set offs. See Illustration 17. 

Footings of undressed rubble built in common mortar are not 





















AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


53 



% 


( 


Ji|, 

- 'MOJL 

-'V- 






Li L 


I 




~~-^ - 

-V't 

-v. 


T7?WCT1 

-—j.: ,'Mi allll 


Illustration 17. 

safe ; for in case of the compression of the mortar, it is sure to 
displace the superstructure. 

A safe way of using rubble is to break it up tolerably small, 
and lay it in the trenches without mortar, as it forms a hard un*' 
yielding bottom so long as it is prevented from spreading later¬ 
ally by the pressure of the ground. 

Where the building is of small rubble, the best way to proceed 
is to lay the foundations with cement mortar, so that the whole 
will form a solid mass. In this case the size and shape of the 
stone is not important. 

In building with brick, the great point to be attended to in 
the footing courses is to keep the back joints as far as possible 
from the face of the work; and in ordinary cases the best plan 
is to lay the footings in single courses—the outside of the work 
being laid, all headers and no course projecting more than one- 
quarter of the length of the brick above it, except in eight or 
nine inch walls. Where more bond is required in the work, the 
courses must be doubled, the heading course above and the 
stretching course below. See Illustration 18. 



Illustration 18. 

































































































































54 


powell’s foundations 


Bricks used in trenches and for footings should be the hardest 
and firmest. It is desirable that the bottom course should in all 
cases be a double one. 

Proper care and judgment should be exercised upon laying the 
footing courses of any building, as upon them depends much of 
the stability of the work. 

If any rents or interstices are left in the beds of the masonry 
or if the materials themselves are unsound or badly put togeth¬ 
er, such carelessness will show sooner or later, and then there 
is no remedy ; or if one, it will be attended with great expense. 

Inverted Arches used in the footings and foundation walls of 
superstructures, should have properly considered abutments for 
them on both sides. If used at the extreme angles of a building 
(see illustration 19), the effect of any settlement will move the 
corner pier from a plumb or vertical position to the dotted line 
shown on figure. The execution of these inverted arches should 
be very perfect, as any settlement in them has a bad effect on the 
piers, and consequently gives opportunity for that fracture which 
their presence was intended to obviate. 

Inverted arches may be constructed with facility by moulding 
their backs in the ground to be occupied by them; and this may 
be very exactly done by pressing down an inverted centering, 
removing it, and smoothing down the cement or concrete. The 


1 

1 















AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


55 


setting of the brick or stone then becomes an easy matter. Be¬ 
sides foundations for buildings, inverted arches are constantly 
used in constructing sewers. 

The parabolic form is the best for such arches ; it is the surest 
for resisting thrust, and besides this has the advantage of not 
having to be sunk in the ground so deep. 



Illustration 20 represents the method of getting the lines for 
centering for a curve approaching the parabolic or elliptic, and 
is generally used where half circles cannot be used. 



Illustration 21. 
























56 


powell’s foundations 


It is sometimes required to span space's where there is a soft 
bottom, when inverted arches are used. In cases of this kind 
a form of construction, as shown in illustration 21, may be used. 



For large spaces use the Elliptic Arch. 

In cases where the ground is soft the expense of spreading 
out solid work to the requisite extent, renders it necessary to 
use some cheaper method for the footings. Three methods may 
be mentioned. 

First. To put in a wide footing course of timber, using tim¬ 
ber that will sustain heavy shearing strains ; it is best to char 
the timber. 

\ N 

Second. To put down a layer of concrete, using one of the 
various hydraulic limes in its composition. The concrete should 
be spread over the footings to a breadth equal to the bearing 
surface of the stratum below the footings. 

Third. To build upon a layer of sand or gravelly deposit, 
with trenches dug to receive it, which pressing against the sides 
as well as the bottom, distribute the weight of the structure over 
a large resisting surface 

Where it is the intention to erect buildings on soft ground, 
and a large bearing surface can be obtained, timber may be used 
with great advantage, provided the timber can be prevented 
from decaying. Some char the timber, and others give it a coat 
of asphaltum. If the ground is wet, and the timber is good, 
there is little to fear ; but when it is alternately wet and dry you 













































AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


57 



cannot depend on unprepared timber. The kyanizingand creo- 
soting process was used some fifteen years ago, but is seldom 
used now, as most localities have some method of their own, 
such as hereinbefore mentioned. 

The best method of using planks under walls is to cut them 
in short lengths, which should be placed across the foundations 
and tied by longitudinal plank, laid to the width of the bottom 
course of the walls, and spiked to the bottom planking. See Il¬ 
lustration 23. 

A common method of planking foundations is shown in Illus¬ 
tration 24. The space under the planking should be rammed. 
After this, bed the sleepers of timber in concrete, and fill the 
spaces between them flush with concrete to the top, so that the 
planking may rest on a solid level surface. 

This same method is used under basement or cellar floors, to 
prevent rats and mice from getting in and making nests. 

Before proceeding further with footings and foundations, it is 
important for the architect and builder to have some knowledge 



of the weight and material used in the superstructure or building 
to be supported on these foundation walls, and for this purpose 
we present the following tables : 


Note. —Mr. Dobson, C. E., who has devoted considerable time and atten¬ 
tion to the subject of foundations, has been consulted in some instances on 
this subject. 












58 


powell’s foundations 


TABLE OF WEIGHT OF TIMBERS, DRY. 


Green timber usually weighs one-third more than dry. 


Maple. 

White Oak. 

Southern Yellow Pine 
Northern Yellow Pine 

White Pine. 

Spruce . 

Hemlock. 

Chestnut. 

Cherry .. 

Ash. 


49 pounds to a cubic foot. 


51 

44 

u 

a 

l 

45 

u 

u 

u 

4 

35 

u 

u 

u 

1 

30 

u 

a 

u 

4 

25 

u 

u 

u 

4 

25 

a 

u 

u 

4 

41 

u 

u 

u 

1 

42 

a 

u 

u 

4 

38 

u 

a 

u 

4 


WEIGHT OF BUILDING STONES, ETC., PER CUBIC FOOT. 
Granite or Limestone, dressed.165 lbs. to 1 cubic foot. 


Masonry of Granite, well scabbled, mortar rubble, 


one-fifth of mass—Mortar . 

.154 

44 

44 

44 

Brickwork, mortar included, . 


44 

44 

44 

Marble. 


44 

44 

44 

Hardened Mortar (1 to 4 and 1 to 9) — Sand weighs . .103 

44 

44 

44 

Serpentine Stone. 

.162 

44 

44 

44 

Sand (Sand is retentive of moisture and varies greatly 




in weight). 


44 

44 

44 

Water. 


44 

44 

44 

("lay (dry). . 


44 

44 

44 

Hvdraulic Rosendale Cement, American... 

. 56 

44 

44 

44 

Teil Hydraulic Lime .. 


44 

44 

(4 

Common Loam Earth, slightly moist . 

. 75 

44 

44 

44 

Common Loam Earth, slightly moist, and firm sand, 




moderately packed. . 


44 

It 

(1 

Gneiss — 166 lbs. cubic foot, loose in piles .. . . 

. 98 

4( 

U 

41 

Hornblendic Gneiss .. 


(( 

(( 

U 




























AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


59 


CHAPTER V. 

Arches in Walls.—At the springing line of arch to walls it is 
well to provide stone skewbacks or corbelling, represented by 
Illustration 25. 



By this method the construction of the arch does not encroach 
upon the piers. 


I 

i 


























































6o 


powell’s foundations 


Construction of Arclies. —In constructing brick arches it is 
always best to specify arch brick, as they form better vous- 
soirs than the parallel brick, and do not have to depend so much 
on the cement or mortar. Arches over piers or thick walls, 
which support a superstructure or several stories, should be 
constructed as shown in illustration 26, so as to bond the arch 
brick. 

Chimney Walls and Building the same.— A broad, deep and 
substantial foundation is necessary below the action of frost, 
so that it may not settle. If the chimney becomes a part of 
the walls, the footings should be made proportionately broad to 
sustain the weight above. 

The Chimney should be straight and smooth, having no 
angles or jogs if possible. No woodwork should be built into 
the chimney, but a space around it should be left clear. 

The walls of chimneys when built six inches thick, having 
the bricks set on edge inside, and bonded with brick laid every 
four or five courses, is nearly as safe as an eight-inch thick wall. 
Where four-inch walls are used around flues to chimneys, it is 
always best to carry the smoke-pipe into a vitriolized clay pipe, 
this pipe to run ten to twelve feet above the smoke hole. An 
opening at the bottom of all flues should be provided. It is 
usual to have light iron frames and sheet iron doors, so that the 
soot may be removed at any time. 

Chimneys should be smoothly plastered with mortar mixed 
with lime, with a small proportion of plaster of paris or cement. 
Some architects require all joints in flues to be pointed. 

Proportion for Brick Chimneys — for manufactories using 
from twenty to thirty horse-power engines. 

The diameter at base should be not less than one-tenth of 
the height. 

The footings from one and one-half to twice the thickness of 
base of chimney wall. 

Batter of chimney, three-sixteenths ; three-eighths ; or, one- 
half inch to one foot in height. 

Thickness of brick wall at top, twelve inches. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


6l 


From twenty-five to fifty feet below top of chimney, sixteen 
to twenty inches. 

From fifty to seventy-five feet below top, twenty-four inches 
to two feet out four inches thick. 

Such a chimney would average from six feet to six feet, eight 
inches square at base, with twenty inches to two feet square 
flue. 

The batter of chimneys should reduce this size at the top to 
from one-quarter to one-third of the bottom diameter or side of 
square. 

From one-sixth to one-eighth of the heighth of chimney the 
walls should be perpendicular, and when desired at starting line 
of batter, use a belt course of stone or brick. 

The top of chimney should always be capped with stone or 
iron cap. 

All brick laid on inside or outside of flue should batter evenly; 
they should be regular in size, sound and hard-burned, and laid 
with even joints. 

It is sometimes necessary to remove dampness in chimney 
flues by building a fire in the base, with light fuel, before build¬ 
ing the engine fires. 

A chimney for any ordinary boiler should be twenty to 
twenty-five feet high. The location of a chimney governs the 
height; i. e ., in the vicinity of houses it should not be less than 
five feet above their roofs ; in low-lands it is necessary to carry 
the top above the downward currents. 

Masons’ and Stone-Cutters’ Tools. —The names given tools for 
this purpose vary according to locality, but the following names 
are common over the United States: 

The Face Hammer. The head has one flat end, and one 
wedge shaped edge for roughly shaping stones from the quarry • 
the head is 8 inches to io inches long. 

The Double Face Hammer weighs from twenty to thirty 
pounds, and is used the same as the other, but for the roughest 
work. 

The Pick Hammer is used for rough dressing on sandstone 
or limestone; it is wedge shaped on both edges, with handle 
in the centre. 


62 


powell’s foundations 


The Axe Hammer has also two wedge edges for cutting; it 
is ten inches long and four inches wide on each edge. It is 
used in reducing faces and joints to a level, and for axing a 
draft around the edges of stone. 

The Patent Hammer is a double-headed tool, and holds a set 
of wide, thin chisels. The chisels are held in position with 
bolts on ends of head, etc. There is also a variety of tools that 
require only the use of one hand : The hand hammer, which 
weighs from two to five pounds, is used in pointing, drilling 
holes, and work on hard rock with chisels; the mallet is used 
where sandstone or limestone is to be cut; the chisels used are 
known as tooth chisels, splitting chisels, plug chisels for split¬ 
ting rocks, etc. Stone carvers have a variety of tools, for which 
there are no names in particular, and which are varied according 
to their work. 

In specifying masonry, whether patent hammered, axed, bush 
hammered, etc., it is best to have each estimator supply a 
sample cube of four to six inches of stone, all from the same 
stone, and of the style of work proposed to be done. 


Stone-Cutting.—All stones used in buildings are as follows : 
Rough stones that are used as they come from the quarry. 
Stones roughly squared and dressed. 

Stones accurately squared and finely dressed. 




Drafted or Axed Edge and Pointed Quarry-faced Ashlar. 


Quarry-faced Stones are those whose faces are left the same 
as they come from the quarry, similar to illustrations. 

Drafted Stones are those on which the face is surrounded 
with a chisel draft, the inner space left rough. 












































































AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


63 


Squared Stones; all stones that are roughly squared and 
dressed on beds and joints, and where the thickness of joint is 
from one-half to one inch thick, as the case may be. 

Cut Stones .—This is for all stones dressed true and square, with 
dressed bed and joints ; the edges may be drafted and the face 
left rough ; bush or patent hammered work on some sandstones 
seems to loosen the stone, and in course of time it will shell off. 

Ashlar or broken ashlar masonry may have its faces cut with 
any of the various tools, i. e ., bush hammered, patent hammered, 
fine pointed, etc., or rubbed work ; it is always known as cut 
work unless particularly described. (See illustration 27.) 

Rubble Footings for ordinary walls are usually built as shown 
in figure 28, of rough stone, bedded in mortar composed of one- 
third well-burnt stone lime, and two-thirds clean sharp sand ; A 
representing the footing. 



Illustration 28.—Rubble Footings. 

Rond Rubble. —Provide a sufficient quantity of stones for 
bonding in greater lengths than the size of the rubble stone, 
which are used or bedded as found in the quarry. All interstices 
should be filled with small stone and mortar ; and at the height 
of eighteen to twenty-four inches the work should be routed 
with new made (mortar) grouting and used at once. 



Illustration 29.—Bond Rubble. 







































64 


powell’s foundations 


Random Coursed Stone Work. —Figure 30 represents neat 
faced and pointed random coursed work; the stones to be ham- 



Illustration 30.—Random Course. 


mer dressed to a fair surface, or tool pointed ; with neat joints 
well pointed with mortar. 

Regular Faced and Squared Stone Work. — This is usually 
built above ground, for basement or exterior walls, and in areas, 
and is finished in neat and regular coursed work, no course more 
than sixteen inches or less than eight inches, as the case may 
be ; it is hammered and dressed to a fair surface, and the joints 
are close and true. 



Illustration 31.—Quarry Faced. 


Trimmed and Coursed Aslilar Facing. —The faces of exterior 
walls of buildings are usually trimmed with ashlar facing of stone ; 
the joints may be all square and close, or have moulded or cham¬ 
fered edges with horizontal beveled joints. 


Illustration 32. —Trimmed and Coursed ashlar facing. 



















































































AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


65 


The following list gives some of the stones used for the exte¬ 
rior of buildings for facings or ashlar work, in New York city and 
surroundings. 

Dorchester, New Brunswick, Breen Stone. —Iron sometimes 
appears on the surface if not selected. 

Berea Stone. —Blue cast, grey ; very good ; produces fine effect 
in combination with brick. 

Wyoming Talley Blue Stone, Penn. —Of a close texture ; used 
in front ashlar, trimmings, etc.; not good for flags. 

Marble. —The most of the marble used in New York comes 
from the quarries of Westchester County. The marble for the 
R. C. Cathedral was quarried at Pleasantville, New York. 

Canaan Marble, of Conn., is used some, and also 

The White Marble of Vermont. —The fine grained marbles 
are quarried principally in Rutland, Pittsford and Dorset Coun¬ 
ties. 

Connecticut Free or Brown Stone is not in use now as much 
as formerly. 

Blue Grey Stone, from Cincinnati, well spoken of. 

Blue Stone Flags come from Hastings, on the North River. 

Granite. —The greater part formerly came from Concord, New 
Hampshire, but now granites from Massachusetts, Maine, Mary¬ 
land and Virginia are coming into use. 



Illustration 33. 


Figure 33 represents the faces of stone before being dressed; 
A, the natural face ; B, bed of stone. 






















66 


powell’s foundations 


One of the most beautiful building stones for residences, 
churches, etc., is the serpentine stone found in Chester County, 
Penn. It is known to preserve its freshness of color, which is a 
pale green, varied, in some specimens, by darker shades of the 
same color. It is valuable as a building material, and affords a 
pleasing variation from the monotonous effect of rows of brick 
or brown stone buildings. 

Openings in Heavy Walls. —It sometimes occurs in building 
walls that an opening is required of a certain height, where a 
semi-circular arch cannot be used, and yet the wall has to sus¬ 
tain an immense load. In a case of that kind it is best, where 
brick has to be used, to make the construction as shown by Il¬ 
lustration 34. A represents the opening below segment arch ; 
B the tier of beams to be supported; and C the semi-circular 
arch above (filled in) to sustain the total load. 



Illustration 34. 


Dry Area of Brick or Bubble. —Dry areas around buildings 
> are sometimes made in the following manner, and covered with 
flat stone, or arched with brick or rubble stone (see illus. 35). 

The bottom to have a descent to the drain, and paved with 
brick laid with hot pitch, or as the case may require. 
















































































AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


67 




Illustration 35. 



Prevention of Dampness in Cellar Walls. —A dry cellar is one 
of the requisites to a healthy house. A moist or damp cellar 
acts as a constant reservoir of damp, chilly and impure air, 
and the constant movement of the air in the warmer rooms 
above causes currents of this air to rise and desseminate them¬ 
selves through the inhabited rooms and become a constant 
source of danger to the health of all occupants. 


Illustration 36. 














































68 


powell’s foundations 


People living over such cellars cannot but be seriously affected. 
Many fatal cases of sickness can be traced to this cause, and, 
doubtless, if our cellars were looked after more carefully, there 
would be less complaint of malaria and kindred ailments. 

It is the purpose in this chapter to give several methods of 
building cellar walls and laying cellar bottoms so as to prevent 
the penetration of dampness. 

Architects often specify that the outside of the walls be ce¬ 
mented from the footings to the base board of a frame house, 
or the base line of stone sill course of a brick or stone house. 
When it is not required to make a cement finish above the 
line of ground, then the cement is stopped off four to six inches 
below the ground. 

In illustration 36, the earth is excavated on the exterior of 
walls to a width of two feet from wall, and a depth of eighteen 
to twenty inches, and at an angle of ten degrees descent. 
When this is firmly packed, lay in cement one or two courses 
of brick laid flat and well bedded and slushed with cement. 
Allow it to thoroughly dry before covering with earth. 

Where this method interferes with flowers and grasses up to 
line of wall, that given in illustration 37 will be a more satisfac- 



Illustration 37. 

tory method. This illustration represents a wall coated with 
cement on the outside or without any cement. To clearly ex- 













AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


69 


plain the method, after the walls have been built and cemented 
on the outside (Rosendale cement is good for the purpose), ex¬ 
cavate the earth on the outside to the line of bottom of foot¬ 
ings, fill with firm earth to top of footings, pack in carefully, 
and grade surface to a proper descent, of not less than half an 
inch to the foot. It would be better to give it an inclination of 
two or three inches to the foot. Then on this trench or surface 
7 lay brick as shown, slushed with cement, and on the brick put a 
coat of cement not less than 1 1-2 inches thick, as shown by 
black lines, and wait for it to dry. Then set drain tiles of the 
form shown, they are of various forms (some having holes in the 
sides). On top of this put loosely broken stone, say three or 
four inches in size, and then cover the whole surface with earth, 
fill up and pack firmly. After a week or two fill up level with 
ground line and pave or sod. Where there is a clay bottom 
and much moisture this will not always prevent the penetration 
of dampness. 

To overcome this difficulty, prepare the interior of the cellar 
as shown in illustration 39 and the outside of cellar walls as 
shown in 38, which will be found to operate quite successfully. 



Illustration 38. 

There are clay soils sufficiently solid to support the walls of 
dwelling houses in which the clay in wet seasons retains moist- 















; o 


powell’s foundations 

ure that is not carried away into the earth, but rises and works 
through the cellar bottom, keeping it almost constantly damp. 
This is a serious difficulty to overcome, but I have known the 
method shown in illustration No. 38 to be carried out with suc¬ 
cess. 

In this case prepare the cellar bottom and lay, say three or 
four inches of sand, which is to be rolled down firm and even. 
Following the cellar walls all around make shallow gutters in 
the sand. On top of this lay a coat of cement 1 1-2 to 2 inches 
in thickness, covering the whole surface of the cellar, taking 
care that sufficient descent is given to carry the water to the 
drain leading to sewer. 

After the cement is fully dry give it a complete coat of as¬ 
phalt over the whole surface and up to the inside line of brick 
walls, carrying the asphalt through the walls, as shown in 
illustration 38, up on the outside either to the earth line or 
above it. 

Illustration 39 gives another method of securing a dry cellar. 



Illustration 39. 


Prepare and do all work of levelling the cellar bottom that 
may be required; spread over this sand to the depth of three 
to five inches, beat down with rammer or make it firm and hard 
with a heavy roller. On top of this, cover the whole surface 
1 1-2 inches thick with American or English cement; carry it 




















and foundation walls. 


71 


well against the walls. Coat the outside walls with cement 1 
inch thick in the same manner, continuing it up to ground 
line. When this is dry, cover the cellar bottom and inside 
and outside walls with asphaltum as shown. Apply while hot. 
Then take hard-burned, good, even brick, dip them in asphalt, 
and lay a floor or pavement over the entire cellar. This when 
properly done, makes a superior floor and a dry cellar bottom. 

A good cellar floor. When the cellar bottom is not very damp 
and there is no moisture after rains, a bottom may be prepared 
thus : Cover the surface of cellar with half lime and cement 
mortar, and on this level, sleepers or beams for flooring ; fill in 
the spaces between beams with concrete up to the top of beams, 
and on this lay the flooring. 

A very durable composition for a cellar bottom may be made 
of cement and asphalt. Mix them in a large pan or boiler over 
a fire, and when thoroughly mixed and tough, spread it over the 
surface. 

A good mixture for bedding with is 65 parts asphalt, 10 parts 
coal tar, and 25 parts sand. It must be used while hot. 

It may be well to add that there are various ways of ascer¬ 
taining the amount of dampness in cellars. 

The Hygrometer Gauge is used for this purpose. The ordi¬ 
nary form of this instrument consists of two thermometers 
placed side by side, one of the bulbs being covered with muslin 
or similar material, and the muslin wetted with water when an 
observation is to be made. 

When the cellar is quite dry the evaporation will be quite 
rapid, so that the thermometer, whose bulb is covered with the 
wet muslin, will mark a much lower temperature than the one 
with the dry bulb, but, where the cellar is damp, there will be 
but little evaporation, and consequently little difference in the 
markings of the two thermometers so that the difference in the 
readings of the thermometers forms a very good index of the 
degree of dampness. 

Another instrument acting on the same principle, but more 
finely adjusted, is called the Psycrometer. 

Sylvester’s Process for Repelling Moisture from External 
Walls.—The proportions are first: Mix three-quarters of a pound 


72 


powell’s foundations 

castile soap with one gallon water; second, mix one-half pound 
alum with four gallons water. These substances to be perfectly 
dissolved. The walls should be clean and dry, and the temper¬ 
ature not less than 50° Fah. when the composition is applied. 

Put the soap wash on when boiling hot with a flat brush, and 
do not work to a froth. Let it dry twenty-four hours, or be per¬ 
fectly dry. Then put on the alum wash at about 65° Fah. for 
the mixture, it should dry perfectly before putting on the soap 
wash; this is to be repeated alternately until the wall is imper¬ 
vious to water. The alum and soap forms an insoluble com¬ 
pound. 

Damp.—After reading an article with the heading “Damp” 
in a foreign journal I was induced to make the following memo¬ 
randa, to suit the subject in this country: i. e.: 

The causes of dampness in buildings are: The presence of water 
in the atmosphere and soil: and the porosity of building mate¬ 
rials which absorb it. 

Its effects are well known and may be classed as Disintegra¬ 
tion of masonry with injury to any interior finish ; paper or kal- 
somining. 

Decay of timber and injury to wooden furniture. 

Developement of Saltpetre on walls, and mouldy surfaces. 

Injury to the health of the inhabitants. 

“The decay of timber used in building often causes structures 
to become unsafe as the ends of all the timbers may be laid in a 
damp place or built in, and completely covered with cement or 
lime ; this causes dry rot to set in very soon and the timber be¬ 
comes useless. 

Where chestnut or poplar beams are used, they decay so rap¬ 
idly if used in damp places that after one or two years, there is 
only a shell left, that may give away, when subject to any load. 

The prevention and cure of dampness may be accomplished 
by the employment and use of material suitable for cellars and 
other parts of buildings below or on the level of the soil. In 
some cases provide drains to carry away from the outside soil 
adjoining the cellar walls all moisture, and again cement the out¬ 
side walls from the trenches to level of the earth, and if it is a 
clay soil and there is much moisture put a thick coat of hot as- 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


73 


phaltum on the cement. If this cannot be clone outside coat the 
walls with cement and asphaltum inside; the same may be ap¬ 
plied to the cellar bottom. 

Where dampness is absorbed and rises in the walls from be¬ 
low at the cellar bottom it is best to provide damp courses, of 
asphaltum coated brick, grooved heavy enamelled brick ; sheet 
lead, slate, copper or glass brick and a course of asphaltum 
through the whole thickness of walls. 

To protect the outside faces of walls from dampness, where 
the walls are below ground : build a four inch brick lining ; set 
off 2 inches on the inside of the walls. If not, build the 4-inch 
damp course on the outside with the two-inch air space, a small 
space at the top must be left open to allow the moisture to evap¬ 
orate. Wooden strips may be painted with bituminous paint 
and used to lath on, and a coat of plastering put on the whole 
surface. A coating of cement and asphaltum may be used on 
the walls for the same purpose. Sufficient protection may be 
gained in some cases by using drain tile on the outside, starting 
the tile from the wall line and carrying six to eight feet from the 
walls with a descent of say 4 inches to the foot. 

Hollow Brick Walls and also hollow bricks are used extensive¬ 
ly now ; these have to be laid in such a manner that the headers 
do not abutt against any inner bricks, and the stretchers are 
laid similar to the flemish bond method of laying bricks—see 
this subject under the heading of hollow brick walls. 

The most thoroughly sanitary foundation for a building is con¬ 
crete : cover the whole area that is to be covered by the building, 
with a four-inch layer of concrete composed of two-thirds brok¬ 
en stone and one-third mortar; the mortar to be made of sand 
and lime. 

Well puddled clay is said to make a good bottom for founda¬ 
tions and cellar floors ; but this can only occur in extraordinary 
cases and localities. 

Puddle clay and mix it in heaps with ordinary slacked lime, 
and burn as is done in the making of cement, after this it may 
be mixed with a sufficient quantity of lime and water to work it; 
lay this all over the whole space of building and a space of 18 
inches outside of the building lines. 


74 


powell’s foundations 


Gas refuse has been used to cover the interior surface of damp 
walls and filling all the space on surfaces of stone, brick and mor¬ 
tar ; but the offensive odor from this method is its most objec¬ 
tionable feature. 

Good results have been reported from the use of a solution 
made of soap and alum, the result of the chemical reaction which 
follows is to fill the pores of the brick or stone with a fatty sub¬ 
stance which opposes passage of water. • 

Dampness often penetrates or water finds its way into cellars 
under window sills: to avoid this turn up one course of brick 
inside against the sill. 

Floors in Damp Locations—A German newspaper of 1882, 
gives a lengthy report by Herr W. Lang—on various methods 
used to gain a strong and durable flooring on the earth, or cellar 
bottom in a manufactory, that would be dry and stand the wear 
of loaded trucks rolled over its surface. At first a layer of cem¬ 
ent on a concrete floor was used ; but the necessity of washing 
the floor, together with the wheels cutting the top surface, soon 
completed their destruction. Two other methods were tried. 
“After laying a fresh bed of concrete, a layer consisting of sand 
and cement in equal parts about 1 1-4 inches thick was laid, it 
was well rammed down and then smoothed with a hand iron. 

This method made a separate shell on top y the same as tried at 
first. The second method consisted of mixing a concrete of one 
part of cement, two parts of sand, and four parts of gravel, laying 
it evenly and ramming it until a layer of from 3-4 of an inch to 1 
1-4 inches appeared on the surface without any gravel; this layer 
was then levelled and smoothed down. This floor proved to be 
very good ; in all cases the thickness of concrete depends upon 
the solidity of the bottom that it is put upon, if left to thoroughly 
harden it will resist for a very long time any ordinary pressure.” 

In this article is a long account of some secret method 
of preparing a concrete that would effectually prevent the action 
of acids. In cases of this kind it is best to use stone slabs, pack¬ 
ing the joints with lead or sulphur cement, run in in such a man¬ 
ner as to be able to key underneath, as the action of acids 
on cements and asphalts very soon destroys them. One of 
the strongest and best road surfaces or floor surfaces that can 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


75 


be put down readily is by a method used in Pine Street, New 
York, as follows : The space to receive the floor is excavated 
and cleared of all refuse and rolled to the level surface required 
for the whole material. On this broken stone sufficiently large 
for concrete (say stone that will pass through a ring 2 to 3 
inches in diameter), is laid to a depth of 6, 8, or 12 inches, and the 
whole surface slushed with cement, and this is rolled and before 
it is dry, a coating of sand is laid to raise and make an even 
surface. When this is sufficiently dry there is put on 
the top a composition composed of powdered lime stone or 
marble dust as coarse as sand, and mixed with an equal quanti¬ 
ty of coarse, sharp sand, this is heated in large wrought iron 
pans, and asphaltum is mixed in with it to make a stiff pliable 
cement. When this is thoroughly mixed and before using, the 
concrete is covered in a rough, scratched manner with hot as¬ 
phalt, and then on this the composition is spread from buck¬ 
ets with shovel, etc.; as soon as it is in position it is rolled 
evenly. A sufficient quantity is made to cover an area of say 
25 feet square each time, the joints are cut very smooth and 
true and when connected a smooth hot trowel like iron is used 
to weld the joints. The whole surface is then covered with 
sand ; the smoothing iron is used on all gutters to make the de¬ 
scent of water perfect. The day after some of this was finished, 
I saw a two-horse wagon loaded with brick run on it. The 
horses backed, turned, and the brick was unloaded without any 
injury to the surface or any part of the work. 

As it is important in the construction of foundations of all 
structures to be prepared for various emergencies, the following 
receipts will be useful in nearly every case. 

Air and Water Tight Cement for Casks and Cisterns.— 

Melted glue, 8 parts, linseed oil, 4 parts ; boiled into a varnish 
with litharge ; hardens in 48 hours. 

Cement for External use.— Ashes 2 parts, clay 3 parts, sand 
1 part; mix with a little oil, very durable. 

Cement to resist Red Heat and Roiling Water —To 4 or 5 

parts of clay, thoroughly dried and pulverized, add 2 parts of 
fine iron filings free from oxide, 1 part of peroxide of manga¬ 
nese, 1 part of common salt, and 1-2 part of borax. Mingle 


76 


powell’s foundations 


thoroughly, render as fine as possible, then reduce to thick 
paste with necessary quantity of water, mixing well; use imme¬ 
diately, and apply heat, gradually increasing almost to a white 
heat. 

Cement to Join Sections cf Cast-iron Wheels, &c. —Make a 
paste of pure oxide of lead, lithage and concentrated glycerine. 
This cement is unrivalled for fastening stone to stone or iron to 
iron. 

Soft Cement for Steam boilers, Steam pipes, etc. —Red or 
white lead, in oil 4 parts; iron borings 2 to 3 parts. 

Gas-fitter’s Cement. —Mix together resin 4 1-4 parts, wax 1 
part, and Venetian red 3 parts. 

Plumber’s Cement. —Black resin 1 part, brick dust 2 parts; 
well incorporated by melting heat. 

Coppersmith’s Cement. —Boiled linseed oil and red lead mixed 
together into a putty, is often used by coppersmiths and engi¬ 
neers to secure joints, the leather or cloth washers are smeared 
with this mixture in a pasty state. 

Composition to fill the Holes in Castings. —Mix, one part borax 
in solution with four parts dry clay. Another: Pulverized 
binoxide of manganese, mixed with a strong solution of sili¬ 
cate of soda (water-clay) to form a thick paste. 

Cast-Iron Cement. —Clean borings, or turnings of cast iron, 
16 parts; sal ammoniac, 2 parts ; flour of sulphur, 1 part; mix 
them well together in a mortar, and keep them dry. When 
required for use, take of the mixture 1 part; clean borings 20 
parts, mix thoroughly, and add a sufficient quantity of water. 
A little grind-stone dust added, improves the cement. 

V 

Best Cement for Aquaria.—1 part, by measure, say a gill of 
lithage ; 1 gill of plaster of paris : 1 gill of dry white sand; 
1-3 a gill of finely powdered resin. Sift and keep corked tight 
until required for use, when it is to be made into a putty by 
mixing in boiled oil (linseed) with a little patent drier added. 
Never use it after it has been mixed with the oil over 15 hours. 
This cement can be used for marine as well as fresh water 
aquaria, as it resists the action of salt water. The tank can be 
used immediately, but it is best to give it 3 or 4 hours to dry. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


77 


CHAPTER VI. 

Front Vaults. —An important part of the construction of 
store buildings in our large cities is the excavation and building 
of vaults under the streets, or under the sidewalk and area. 
See abstract of Laws in reference to vaults, chapter iii. 

These vaults are usually lighted by setting thick glass in iron 
frames over the area known as area patent lights—and the side- 



flags, or with large flags of stone, resting on a girder or beam 
supported by columns where necessary. The best stone in use 
here is the North River blue-stone and is generally used ten 

























































































78 


powell’s foundations 




inches thick. Where granite has been used for the purpose it has 
worn so smooth as to become objectionable. The joints of the 
stone are caulked with oakum, and filled with pitch and cement. 
See illustration 40. 

The top of walls are usually coated with asphalt cement. The 
outside retaining wall is usually two feet six inches to three 
feet thick, with a hollow space of two or three inches, and an in¬ 
side eight-inch wall. 

Illustration 41 represents the construction of an area where 
the walls and vault are extended out under the street beyond 
the curb. For this arrangement there is generally required a 
special permit. 

Vaults under sidewalks are sometimes carried to the depth of 
twenty-five feet below line of curb, and make two stories extend¬ 
ing under sidewalk ; the outside retaining wall is usually of stone. 

Retaining Walls. —The nature of retaining walls when used 
in connection with buildings can be more readily decided upon 
than of revertment and abutment walls used in engineering prac¬ 
tice. One of the great obstacles to overcome in retaining walls 















































































































4 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


79 


used for area walls around structures, is to prevent the water 
that penetrates through the soil and reaches the wall from freez¬ 
ing, and forcing the wall outward. To avoid this : when the 
wall is built finish the top with a flat course under the coping or 
capstone, and cover this with a coat of melted asphaltum, and 
carry this asphakum down to the bottom of the footing courses 
on the outside. 

The following table of slopes is given as a guide in providing 
retaining walls at the base, and to form a correct idea of the 
force of the soil or earth thrusting against the retaining wall. 

Slopes. —(A slope is an inclined bank of earth on the sides of 
any kind of cutting or embankment. 

The various Angles are according to the nature of the soil 
and the height of the slope. 

The allowance is about as follows :— 


TABLE OF SLOPES. 


Gravel, sand, or common earth cuts or banks of less 

than 4 feet, 1 Base to (1) Vertical. 

Clay cuts or banks of less than 4 feet, 2 Base to (1) 

Earth of mixed sand or clay or banks of 4 to 15 feet, 11-2 Base (1) 


Pure gravel or sand or banks of 4 to 15 feet, 
Clay in banks of 4 to 15 feet, 

Statitied clay and sand cuttings 4 to 15 feet, 
Broken rocks in banks over 15 feet high, 

Earth of mixed sand and clay or banks over 15 
feet high, 

Pure gravel or sand cuts over 15 feet high, 
Clay cuts or banks over 15 feet high, 

Statitied clay in cuttings over 15 feet high, 


2 Base (1) 
2 “ ( 1 ) 
3 Base to (1) 


11-2 

2 

2 

3 

3 to 4 


u 


u 


u 


u 

u 


u 


a 


u 


u 


u 


( 1 ) 

( 1 ) 

( 1 ) 

( 1 ) 

( 1 ) 


u 


u 


u 


u 


u 


u 


u 


u 


u 


u 


The natural strongest, and ultimate form of a slope is a curve, 
and the flattest part is at the bottom. When the slopes remain 
without retaining walls, cultivation, sodding and drainage are 
preservatives. 

The average angle to revertment or retaining walls is as fol¬ 
lows : 

1-4 Horizontal to 1 perpendicular. 


1-2 

u 

u 

1 

u 

3-4 

u 

u 

1 

u 

1 

u 

u 

1 

u 

1 1-2 

u 

u 

1 

u 

1 3-4 

u 

a 

1 

u 

o 

Ad 

u 

u 

1 

44 


So 


powell’s foundations 


The average thickness of Area or Retaining walls as given in 
Mr. Trautwine’s work. 

“For walls of cut stone or first-class large range rubble laid 
in mortar, is 35 per cent, of height for width of base. 

For walls of good common scabbled mortar rubble or brick, 
40 pr. ct. of height for width of base. 

For walls of well scabbled dry rubble, 50 pr. ct. of height for 
width of base. 

When the walls are not sufficiently thick to sustain the shear¬ 
ing force they will bulge, and very soon the rain and frost 
acting on them will seriously damage them, and will cost more 
to repair than the original expense of walls of sufficient thick¬ 
ness properly bonded. 

When retaining walls have been built, and where it is possible ; 
horizontal layers of soil should be packed in behind the walls ; 
this will relieve the force of material from pressing against the 
walls. 

In cases of this kind and where good stones are used and laid 
in cement, 1-8 of the height of wall may be used for thickness at 
the base, and if hard burned full size bricks are laid in cement, 
1-10 of the height of walls may be used for thickness at the base, 
to this may be added a 2-inch air space to carry off dampness, 
with tent holes at the top and an inner 8-inch wall secured with 
iron straps. Where walls of this kind are built longer than 
25 feet, counterforts or buttresses bracing the retaining wall 
can be used. Then inside counterforts or buttresses should be 
built at regular intervals. 

Slate is now used very extensively in our large cities for plat¬ 
forms and steps where stone had been formerly in use ; instead 
of stone it is often used for Sidewalk flagging, Bond stones, Cop¬ 
ing stones, Sills, Lintels, and floors of Lavatories, Urinal Rooms 
and Kitchens. As it is sawed and planed it can be laid with 
great regularity, and various quarries now furnish it in even 
colored slabs, so that when used in broad surfaces it makes a 
complete finish. 

When tested with blue stone it is found sufficiently strong for 
most of building purposes, flagging particularly. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


8 I 


TEST. 


Blue Stone, 

Length. 

Breadth. 

Depth. 

D istance bet. bearings. 

Ultim. Strength 

15.90 

11".75 

1.98 

113-4 in. 

8,300 lbs. 

U U 

15.80 

11.90 

3.85 

113-4 

29.050 lbs. 

Slate, 

15.80 

11.75 

1.97 

113-4 

9.150 

a 

15.80 

11".90 

3".80 

113-4 

17.000 


in this case the load was placed in the centre. 

The ultimate strength of Blue stone and Slate is (compression 
test) about 25,000 lbs. per sq. inch. They break into fragments 
with the same load. 

Slabs of 6 feet by 12 feet by 3 inches thick are readily made 
square and true. 


TABLE OF STRENGTH OF STONE FOR VAULTS, PLATFORMS, GAL¬ 
LERIES, BAY-WINDOWS AND OTHER PURPOSES. 

Transverse Strength of FIaggmg.- W y width of stone in inches ; 
T y thickness of stone in inches; D, distance between bearing in 
inches. 


The Breaking Load in Tons of 2000 lbs. for a Load on 

the Centre of Surface. 


W x T 2 

-x 

D 


Quincy Granite. 

Black Granite. 

Blue Stone Flagging... 

Belleville, New Jersey, Freestone 

Dorchester Free Stone. 

Caen. 

Ambigny... 


.622 

.430 

.744 

.312 

.264 

.144 

.216 


Thus a blue stone flag, 100 inches wide, 6 inches thick, rest¬ 
ing on a bearing, or on beams, 72 inches to centres, would be 
broken by a load resting midway between the beams or support 

100 x 6 2 , 

--x .744=37.20 tons, breaking load. 


TABLE OF EXPERIMENTS ON BRICK. 


BRICKS. 

Fractured 
in lbs. 

Crushed 
in lbs. 

Fractured 
sq. in. 

Crushed 
sq. in. 

Common Hard Brick. 

20,000 

46,000 

625 

1435 

u u 

12,000 

30,000 

375 

935 

Dry Pressed Staten Island. 

20,000 

50,000 

625 

1562 

Philadelphia (whole). 

15,000 

60,000 

468 

1875 

“ (half). 

20,000 

54,000 

625 

3375 

Massachusetts Flint. 

50.000 

not crushed 

1562 

• • • • 

Colabargh. . 

Firebrick. 

40,000 

60,000 

20,000 

1250 

• • • • 

1875 

625 

New Jersey, unburnt. 

13,000 

15,000 

406 

468 

Best Hard North River Pavers (half) 

38,000 

55,000 

2375 

3437 

NorthRiver wholeBrick not injured at 


60,000 

• • • • 

• • • • 


Adamantine Press Cis-brick, crushed at 90,000 lbs, being at the rate of 2,800 
lbs. on the square inch. 





































82 


powell's foundations 


It is best in using these tables not to exceed a working load 
of one-quarter to one-sixth the breaking load. Over vaults to 
warehouses allow a load of 600 pounds per square foot, and 500 
pounds per square foot for stores. 

RULES OR TABLE FOR CALCULATING THE WEIGHT OF MATE¬ 
RIALS IN BUILDINGS. 

Calculate the weight of wall per superficial foot of surface, and deduct 
only one-half of window openings. 


8-inch brick wall, weight per foot. 77 pounds. 

12 “ “ “ “ “ “ 115 “ 

16 “ “ “ “ “ “ 153 “ 

20 « “ “ « “ “ 192 “ 

24 “ “ “ “ “ “ 230 u 

Brown Stone, 4 inches thick.57 “ 

U U g U U .u 

“ “ 12 “ “ .170 “ 

Granite, per foot.166 u 

White Marble.168 “ 

NEW YORK LAW IN REFERENCE TO LOAD ON FLOORS. 

Hardware Store, weight on square foot floor surface.350 to 600 lbs. 

Flour Store, “ “ “ “ “ 350 “ 

Dry Goods Store, u “ “ u “ 310 u 

Public Assemblies, “ “ “ “ u 180 u 

Tenement House, “ “ “ u “ 100 “ 

Roofs, “ “ “ “ “ 90 “ 


After making calculations of loads in ten dry goods stores, 
they were found not to be loaded to exceed 180 pounds per 
square foot on the basement or first and second stories, and much 
less above. 

Mensuration of Superfices. —Simple rules for calculating super¬ 
ficial surfaces of different shapes : 

Triangle —Multiply base by perpendicular and divide by 2. 

Equilateral Triangle —Square of any side by .433. 

Trapezoid —Multiply the sum of the parallel sides by perpen¬ 
dicular distance between them ; divide by 2. 

Parallelogram —Multiply base by perpendicular. 

Trapezium —Multiply diagonal by one-half sum of perpendic¬ 
ular circle. 

Circle— Multiply diameter 2 by .7854. 

Circle —Multiply circumference by radius, divided by 2. 

Ellipse —Multiply transverse axis by conjugate axis by .7854. 

Cylinder —Multiply length by diameter by 3 1-7. 


















AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


83 


Hollow Walls for Buildings.— 

There has not been so great a demand for hollow walls in 
building during the past eight years in cities as formerly, owing 
to the introduction and manufacture of various kinds of hollow, 
cellular and grooved ; fire-proof and furring material: most of 
these are made of cinders, ashes and clay, mixed with some 
form of Carbonate of lime or cement; and some of which are 
worthless. 

For walls that have been exposed on the exterior to weather 
and where there is a tendency for moisture to drive through, 
fire-proofing blocks of 2 inches in thickness are set against the 
inside of walls, these blocks are grooved on the side next to the 
walls, and leave an air space : where they are not used wooden 
strips are often used and the strips lathed. One reason yvhy 
hollow walls are not built is, the Building Laws require as many 
brick to a hollow wall per foot in height as if it were solid, 
and as it is more expensive, there is not much gained in city 
buildings by using them. 

Where stone walls are built to have an air space, it is usually 
done by leaving a space of 2 inches on the inside of wall of 
building, and building a 4 or 8-inch brick wall which is held in 
position with wedge anchors. If convenient, fireproof furring 
may be used. This furring of walls adds greatly to the warmth 
of a building. It may be useful to give the relative conducting 
power of different building materials, i. e.\ as follows : 

Stone 14 to 16, 

Brick 5, 

Plaster 4, 

Wood I, 

Wood therefore is the best material named : particularly when 
double furring or woolen felting is used. 

We herewith give illustrations 42 and 43 showing several 
methods of building Hollow Walls where no extra furring will be 
required inside to prevent the penetration of dampness. 

One of the greatest protections to walls above ground where 
hollow walls have not been used is to give the whole surface 2 
heavy coats of boiled linseed oil : there are also other methods 
such as silicate of soda paint and cement paints—while hollow 


84 powell’s foundations 

brick walls make a dry and damp-proof structure: the work is 
required to be done by skilled workmen and the joints laid clean, 
to leave the air spaces free. 



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Illustration 42 










































































































































































































AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 



Illustration 43 . 


A Stone House properly built is undoubtedly the most ex 
pensive structure that can be erected. It produces a fine, sub 


\ 







































































































































































































86 


powell’s foundations 


stantial and showy external appearance ; and creeping vines 
may be grown at inner angles to produce that picturesque and 
home-like appearance that is seldom seen in other structures. 
But such a house is not any warmer in winter, or cooler in sum¬ 
mer, than a brick one. 

The proper construction for the walls of a stone dwelling, 
is to have the beds and joints of squared or drafted stone. 
This is termed squared random work. This enables the mason 
to more fully fill the joints with mortar. 

The walls of a stone house should not be constructed of 
rough rubble-work, as it is impossible to fill completely all the 
joints with mortar; and hence in a driving storm rain will be 
forced through the crevices, and produce dampness ; quarry-faced 
stone at the least should be used. 

A stone house can be constructed either with hollow or solid 
walls, or the inside lined with hollow brick. 

When hollow walls are built, the outside wall should be not 
less than sixteen inches thick of stone, with a three-inch 
space inside, and backed up with four inches of brickwork. 
Bonding the inside and outside walls with iron ties or clamp 
anchors. Where binders or headers of brick are used damp¬ 
ness will usually penetrate. Hollow walls to be effectual, must 
have outside and inside work separate from each other. 

When solid walls are used they should be furred and lathed, 
instead of applying the plaster on the walls. 

BUILDING LAWS PASSED APRIL, 1871. 

Abstract from the Building Laws of the City of New York 
in reference to Walls , Foundations , etc., now in force. 

“Sec. 3. Depth of Foundation Wails.— All foundation walls 
shall be laid not less than four feet below the surface of the 
earth on a good solid bottom, and in case the nature of the 
earth should require it, a bottom of driven piles or laid timbers, 
of sufficient size and thickness, shall be laid to prevent the 
walls from settling, the top of such pile or timber bottom to be 
driven or laid below the water line ; and all piers, columns, 
posts or pillars resting on the earth, shall be set upon a bottom 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


37 


in the same manner as the foundation walls. Rock bottom. 
Whenever in any case the foundation walls or walls of any 
building that may hereafter be erected, shall be placed on a rock 
bottom, the said rock shall be graded off level to receive the 
same. All excavations upon the front or side of any lot ad¬ 
joining a street shall be properly guarded and protected by the 
person or persons having charge of the same, so as to prevent 
the same from being or becoming dangerous to life or limb. 
Excavations. Whenever there shall be any excavation, either 
of earth or rock, hereafter commenced upon any lot or piece of 
land in the city of New York, and there shall be any party or 
other wall wholly or partly on adjoining land, and standing up¬ 
on or near the boundary line of said lot, if the person or per¬ 
sons, whose duty it shall be under existing laws to preserve and 
protect said wall from injury, shall neglect or fail so to do, after 
having had a notice of twenty-four hours from the Department 
of Buildings so to do, the Superintendent of Buildings may 
enter upon the premises, and employ such labor and take such 
steps as in his judgment may be necessary to make the same 
safe and secure, or to prevent the same from becoming unsafe 
or dangerous, at the expense of the person or persons owning 
said wall or building of which it may be a part, and any person 
or persons doing the said work, or any part thereof, under and 
by direction of the said Superintendent, may bring and main¬ 
tain an action against the owner or owners, or any one of them, 
of the said wall or building of which it may be a part, for any 
work done or materials furnished in and about the said premises, 
in the same manner as if he had been employed to do the said 
work by the said owner or owners of the said premises. 

“Sec. 4. Rase course of foundation walls, piers, columns, etc. 
The footing, or base course, under all foundation walls, and 
under all piers, columns, posts, or pillars resting on the earth, 
shall be of stone or concrete ; and if under a foundation wall, 
shall be at least twelve inches wider than the bottom width of 
the said wall; and if under piers, columns, posts, or pillars, shall 
be at least twelve inches wider on all sides than the bot¬ 
tom width of the said piers, columns, posts, or pillars, and not less 
than eighteen inches in thickness ; and if built of stone, the 


88 


powell’s foundations 


stones thereof shall not be less than two by three feet and at 
least eight inches in thickness ; and all base stones shall be 
well bedded and laid edge to edge; and if the walls be built of 
isolated piers, then there must be inverted arches, at least 
twelve inches thick, turned under and between the piers, or two 
footing courses of large stone, at least ten inches thick in each 
course. Construction of foundation walls. All foundation 
walls shall be built of stone or brick, and shall be laid in cement 
mortar, and if constructed of stone, shall be at least eight 
inches thicker than the wall next above them, to a depth of six¬ 
teen feet below the curb level, and shall be increased four inches 
in thickness for every additional five feet in depth below the said 
sixteen feet; and if built of brick, shall be at least four inches 
thicker than the wall next above them to a depth of sixteen feet 
below the curb level, and shall be increased four inches in thick¬ 
ness for every additional five feet in depth below the said six¬ 
teen feet. 

“Sec. 5. Height, Thickness and materials of walls of dwell¬ 
ings. In all dwelling-houses that may hereafter be erected, 
not more than fifty-five feet in height, the outside walls shall 
not be less than twelve inches thick ; and if above fifty-five feet 
in height, and not more than eighty feet in height, the outside 
walls shall not be less than sixteen inches thick to the top of 
the second-story beams, provided the same is twenty feet above 
the curb level, and if not, then to the under side of the third- 
story beams ; and also provided that that portion of the walls 
twelve inches thick shall not exceed forty feet in height above 
the said sixteen-inch wall. No party wall in any dwelling-house 
that may hereafter be erected shall be less than sixteen inches 
in thickness ; and in every dwelling-house hereafter erected 
more than eighty feet in height, four inches shall be added to 
the thickness of the walls for every fifteen feet, or part thereof, 
that is added to the height of the building. 

“Sec. 6. Height, thickness and materials of walls of build¬ 
ings other than dwellings. In all buildings, other than dwelling- 
houses, hereafter to be erected, not more than forty-five feet in 
height, and not more than twenty-five feet in width, the outside 
walls shall not be less than twelve inches thick, and the party 




AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 89 

walls not less than sixteen inches thick; if above forty-five feet, 
and not more than fifty-five feet in height, the outside and party 
walls shall not be less than sixteen inches thick ; if above fifty- 
five feet, and not more than seventy feet in height, the outside 
and party walls shall not be less than twenty inches thick to the 
height of the second-story beams, and not less than sixteen 
inches thick from thence to the top ; and if above seventy feet, 
and not more than eighty-five feet in height, the outside and 
party walls shall not be less than twenty inches thick to the 
height of the third-story beams, and not less than sixteen inches 
from thence to the top ; and if above eighty-five feet in height, 
the outside and party walls shall be increased four inches in 
thickness for every ten feet or part thereof that shall be added 
to the height of the said wall or walls. Buildings over 25 feet 
in width to have partition walls or girders and columns. In all 
buildings over twenty-five feet in width, and not having either 
brick partition walls or girders, supported by columns running 
from front to rear, the walls shall be increased an additional 
four inches in thickness, to the same relative thickness in height 
as required under this section, for every additional ten feet in 
width of said building, or any portion thereof. It is understood 
that the amount of materials specified may be used either in 
piers or buttresses/provided the outside walls between the same 
shall in no case be less than twelve inches in thickness to the 
height of forty feet, and if over that height, then sixteen inches 
thick; but in no case shall a party wall between the piers or 
buttresses of a building be less than sixteen inches in thickness. 
Corner buildings, thickness of walls. In all buildings hereafter 
erected, situated on the street corner, the bearing wall thereof 
(that is, the wall on the street upon which the beams rest) shall be 
four inches thicker in all cases than is otherwise provided for by 
this act. 

s 

“Sec. 7. Partition walls of buildings over 30 feet in w idth. 

Every building hereafter erected, more than thirty feet in width, 
except churches, theatres, or other public buildings, shall have 
one or more brick, stone, or fire-proof partition walls, running 
from front to rear, which may be four inches less in thickness 
than is called for by the clauses and provisions above set forth 


90 


powell’s foundations 


with regard to foundations, thickness, and height, provided they 
are not more than fifty feet in height; these walls shall be so 
located that the space between any two of the bearing walls of 
the building shall not be over twenty-five feet. Iron or wooden 
girders, and bearing weight of same. In case iron or wooden 
girders, supported upon iron or wooden columns, are substituted 
in place of partition walls, the building may be fifty feet in width 
but not more ; and if there should be substituted iron or wooden 
girders, supported upon iron or wooden columns, in place of the 
partition walls, they shall be made of sufficient strength to bear 
safely the weight of two hundred and fifty pounds for every 
square foot of floor or floors that rest upon them, exclusive of 
the weight of material employed in their construction, and shall 
have a footing course and foundation wall not less than sixteen 
inches in thickness, with inverted arches under and between 
the columns, or two footing courses of large well-shaped stone, 
laid crosswise, edge to edge, and at least ten inches thick in 
each course, the lower footing course to be not less than two 
feet greater in area than the size of the column ; and under every 
column, as above set forth, a cap of cut granite, at least twelve 
inches thick, and of a diameter twelve inches greater each way 
than that of the column, must be laid solid and level to receive 
the column. Walls to be braced during construction. Any 
building that may hereafter be erected in an isolated position, 
and more than one hundred feet in depth, and which shall not 
be provided with crosswalls, shall be securely braced, both inside 
and out, during the whole time of its erection, if it can be done ; 
but in case the same cannot be so braced from the outside, then 
it shall be properly braced from the inside, and the braces shall 
be continued from the foundation upward to at least one-third 
the height of the building from the curb level. 

“Sec. 8 . Cutting of wall. No wall or any building now 
erected, or hereafter to be built or erected, shall be cut off alto¬ 
gether below, without permission so to do having been obtained 
from the Superintendent of Buildings. Temporary supports. 
Every temporary support placed under any structure, wall, gird¬ 
er, or beam, during the erection, finishing, alteration, or repair¬ 
ing of any building, or part thereof, shall be equal in strength 
to the permanent support required for such structure, wall, gird- 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


91 


er, or beam. Braces. And the walls of every building shall 
be strongly braced from the beams of each story until the build¬ 
ing is topped out, and the roof tier of beams shall be strongly 
braced to the beams of the story below until all the floors in the 
said building are laid. 

“Sec. 9. Headers. All stone walls less than twenty-four 
inches thick, shall have at least one header extending through 
the walls in every three feet in height from the bottom of the 
wall, and in every four feet in length ; and if over twenty-four 
inches in thickness, shall have one header for every six superfi¬ 
cial feet on both sides of the wall, and running into the wall at 
least two feet J all headers shall be at least eighteen inches in 
width and eight inches in thickness, and shall consist of a good 
flat stone dressed on all sides. Heading courses. In every 
brick wall every sixth course of brick shall be a heading course, 
except where walls are faced with brick, in which case every 
fifth course shall be bonded into the backing by cutting the 
course of the faced brick, and putting in diagonal headers be¬ 
hind the same, or by splitting face brick in half, and backing 
the same by a continuous row of headers. Stone ashlar. In 
all walls which are faced with thin ashlar, anchored to the back¬ 
ing, or in which the ashlar has not either alternate headers and 
stretchers in each course, or alternate heading and stretching 
courses, the backing of brick shall not be less than twelve inches 
thick, and all twelve-inch backing shall be laid up in cement 
mortar, and shall not be built to a greater height than prescrib¬ 
ed for twelve-inch walls. All leading courses shall be good, hard, 
perfect brick. Brick backing. The backing in all walls, of 
whatever material it may be composed, shall be of such thick¬ 
ness as to make the walls, independent of the facing, conform 
as to thickness with the requirements of sections five and six of 
this act. 

“Sec. 10. Isolated piers, how constructed. Every isolated 
pier less than ten superficial feet at the base, and all piers sup¬ 
porting a wall built of rubble stone or brick, or under any iron 
beam or arch girder, or arch on which a wall rests, or lintel 
supporting a wall, shall at intervals of not less than thirty inches 
in height, have built into it a bond stone not less than four 
inches thick, of a diameter each way equal to the diameter of the 


92 


powell’s foundations 


pier, except that in piers on the street front, above the curb the 
bond stone may be four inches less than the pier in diameter; 
and all piers shall be built of good, hard, well-burnt brick and 
laid in cement mortar, and all bricks used in piers shall be of the 
hardest quality, and be well wet when laid. Walls and piers 
under girders and columns. And the walls and piers under all 
compound, cast-iron, or wooden girders, iron or other columns, 
shall have a bond stone at least four inches in thickness, and if 
in a wall at least two feet in length, running through the wall, 
and if in a pier, the full size of the thickness thereof, every thir¬ 
ty inches in height from bottom, whether said pier is in the wall 
or not, and shall have a cap stone of cut granite at least twelve 
inches in thickness, by the whole size of the pier, if in a pier; 
and if in a wall, it shall be at least two feet in length, by the 
thickness of the wall, and at least twelve inches in thickness. 
Base stone. In any case where any iron or other column rests 
on any wall or pier built entirely of stone or brick, the said col¬ 
umn shall be set on a base stone of cut granite, not less than 
eight inches in thickness by the full size of the bearing of the 
pier, if on a pier, and if on a wall the full thickness of the wall. 
Hollow walls. In all buildings where the walls are built hollow, 
the same amount of stone or brick shall be used in their construc¬ 
tion as if they were solid, as above set forth ; and no hollow 
walls shall be built unless the two walls forming the same shall 
be connected by continuous vertical ties of the same materials 
as the walls, and not over twenty-four inches apart. Height of 
walls, how computed. The height of all walls shall be compu¬ 
ted from the curb level. Swelled or refuse brick, use of, prohib¬ 
ited. No swelled or refuse brick shall be allowed in any wall or 
pier; and all brick used in the construction, alteration, or repair 
of any building, or part thereof, shall be good, hard, well-burnt 
brick. Bricks to be wet. And if used during the months from 
April to November, inclusive, shall be well wet at the time they 
are laid. 

'‘Sec. i i. Mortar, of what materials, and how used. The 

mortar used in the construction, alteration, or repair of any build¬ 
ing shall be composed of lime or cement, mixed with sand, in 
the proportion of three of sand to one of lime, and two of sand 
to one of cement, and no lime and sand mortar shall be used 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


93 


within twenty-four hours after being mixed ; and all walls or parts 
thereof, below the curb level, shall be laid in cement mortar, to 
be composed of cement and mortar, in the proportion of one 
of cement to two of mortar. No inferior lime or cement shall 
be used. Sand. And all sand shall be clean, sharp grit, free 
from loam ; and all joints and all walls shall be well filled with 
mortar. 

“Sec. 12. Walls, how carried up and anchored. — In no case, 
shall the side, end, or party wall of any building be carried up 
more than two stories in advance of the front and rear walls. 
The front, rear, side, end, and party walls of any building here¬ 
after to be erected shall be anchored to each other every six feet 
in their height by tie anchors, made of one and a quarter inch 
by three-eighths of an inch of wrought iron. The said anchor 
shall be built into the side or party walls not less than sixteen 
inches, and into the front and rear walls at least one half the 
thickness of the front and rear walls, so as to secure the front and 
rear walls to the side, end, or party walls; and all stone used 
for the facing of any building, except where built with alternate 
headers and stretchers, as hereinbefore set forth, shall be strongly 
anchored with iron anchors in each stone, and all such anchors 
shall be let into the stone at least one inch. The side, end, or 
party walls shall be anchored at each tier of beams, at intervals 
of not more than eight feet apart, with good, strong, wrought- 
iron anchors, one-half inch by one inch, well built into the side 
*alls and well fastened to the side of the beams by two nails, 
made of wrought iron, at least one fourth of an inch in diame¬ 
ter ; and where the beams are supported by girders, the ends of 
the beams resting on the girder shall be butted together end to 
end, and strapped by wrought-iron straps of the same size, and 
at the same distance apart, and, in the same beam as the wall 
anchors, and shall be well fastened." 

Preservation of Stone.—In the preservation of stone we now 
lay down, from the highest practical authorities, the condition 
upon which only a successful issue can be obtained: 

First. The materials must be irremovable and imperishable. 

Second. They must be easily absorbed by, and thoroughly 
incorporated with the stone. 


94 


powell’s foundations 


Third. The materials must be free from color, but admit of 
imperishable coloration. 

Mr. Frederick Ransome’s process seems to best fill all the 
above conditions, meeting most thoroughly every possible re¬ 
quirement. The materials used are as follows : Dissolve flint 
or silicate of soda and chloride of calcium. Flint or silex is 
soluble by heat under pressure in a solution of caustic soda. In 
this form it is soluble silicate of soda. In this form it is to be 
thoroughly brushed into the stone. On top of this is brushed 
into the stone a solution of chlorine, which unites with the soda, 
forming an insoluble silicate of lime. The silicate of lime being 
white, there is an opportunity of using metallic tinting solutions. 

Another process for the preservation of stone or brick is to 
dissolve resin with turpentine, and when heated, to add linseed 
oil to form a paint. 

Another mixture is made from unslacked lime, to which is 
added while slacking oil of tallow. When the slacking is com¬ 
plete, it is placed in a vessel with alum water and proto-sulphate 
of iron. After settling, it is drawn off and used. 

Another process is the repeated application with a brush of a 
solution of beeswax in coal tar naphtha; when the color of the 
stone is to be preserved, white wax, dissolved in refined distilled 
camphene. 

None of these, except the first, seem to answer any practical 
purpose, and only offer a temporary protection. 

Here is a mixture, given by M. Kuhlman, that seems to have 
been used with success for thirty years. It is the silicate of 
potash. Before application the surface requires to be washed 
with a diluted solution of caustic potash with a hard brush. 
Three applications of the silicate are required during three days. 

There is an English preparation extensively used for the pur¬ 
pose of repelling moisture, and for the preservation of stone, 
brick, plaster and cement. It is a liquid or solution of silica. 
It is also used in kitchens, cellars and basements to form a hard 
surface on the walls, impenetrable to water. It is a kind of 
enamel, and is put up in barrels and by the gallon, and is red, 
white, blue, green and chocolate. It is applied with a brush, 
and is very inexpensive. It presents a surface like glazed tile, 
and is not affected by water or atmospheric changes. It is a 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 95 

silicate enameling paint. There are several agencies in the 
United States. 

Incrustations on Brick Walls. —A greyish white substance 
often appears on the surface of bricks, before and after being 
laid in walls ; it proceeds from several causes : and since the dis¬ 
coloration is very unsightly, and if removed, may return, many 
builders and owners of buildings have tried various ways to get 
rid of this precipitate. It occurs generally on Philadelphia an } 
New Jersey bricks for front facings. It is not seen often on 
the Baltimore or North River bricks. Limes that are burned 
* of magnesian limestone produce a lime with a mixture of magne¬ 
sia, and when made into mortar, and used in brickwork, absorb 
sufficient vapor from the atmosphere to form a sulphate of mag¬ 
nesium or epsom salts. It finds its way through every crevice 
and pore out to the surface. This sulphate of magnesia is found 
in a crude form known as silicate of magnesia, in native forms 
as asbestos, soapstone, talc and French chalk. When common 
salt is used in solution on brick, it leaves a white precipitate 
when dry. Portland cement contains but a small proportion of 
magnesia, and walls built with it show but little, if any, deface¬ 
ment. Some of the grades of Rosendale cement that contain 
magnesia and soda disfigure the surface of the walls when used 
in cement mortar. The best remedy is to remove the incrusta¬ 
tion and wash the fronts, and when dry, paint the surface. If 
the surface is painted over the incrustations, it shows different 
shades of color when the paint is dry. This discoloration of 
brick walls is most noticeable in dry weather on parts of walls 
subject to dampness, and on entire walls after heavy rains. 
North and East walls are usually the heaviest coated. This 
white precipitate comes from both bricks and mortars. 

To avoid this white defacement, builders should use limes 
free from magnesia, and cements free from magnesia and soda. 

Avoid using bricks that are burned with coal, and also when 
the dry surface of the brick is whiter than the true color. When 
clays are to be used for making pressed brick for fronts or orna¬ 
mental purposes, it is best to avoid all clays containing epsom 
salts or sulphate of magnesia. 

The following may be a guide to finding the magnesia in clays: 


96 


powell’s foundations 


Take some clay; dry the clay by heat; reduce it to a fine 
powder, and saturate with sulphuric acid. Then dry and calcine 
the mass at a red heat, in order to convert any sulphate of iron 
(copperas) that may be present to a red oxide ; it is then dis¬ 
solved in water and sulphuret of lime is added, to separate any 
remaining portion of iron ; then pour off the liquid and evapo¬ 
rate it, and the crystals that form, if any, are the sulphate of 
magnesia. This should be done by a chemist. uo 

Sulphuret of Lime is made of—one part flower sulphur, two 
parts lime, ten parts water. This is the mixture used in testing 
the clay. 

Of course, if the sulphate of magnesia is found, the clay is not 
fit for front or ornamental brick. 

Yet it is possible to wash some clays and carry off the mag¬ 
nesia. 

Another method of analyzing clay is as follows: 

Grind the clay to a powder, and add diluted muriatic acid un¬ 
til it ceases to effervesce ; heat it until the liquid evaporates, 
the residue being a thin paste ; then add water and shake it; 
then filter the mixture and dry what is on the filtering paper 
by heating—this gives the insoluble matter ; if magnesia is con¬ 
tained add clean water so long as any precipitate is formed ; 
quickly gather the precipitate, and wash with pure water. The 
residue from washing is the magnesia. 

Sand. —Whatever variety of sand is used in making mortars 
or cements, it should be granular, hard and gritty, sharp and 
angular, with a polished surface, and nearly uniform in size. 

Sand, when perfectly fit to be used in mortar, will bear the 
test of being rubbed between the hands without soiling them. 

Sand is not increased in volume by moisture, nor contracted 
by heat. 

The finest sand screened should pass through a wire mesh 
one-thirty-second of an inch square : the medium size, one-six¬ 
teenth of an inch mesh. 

The quality of mortar or cement depends chiefly upon the 
quality of the sand. The common practice of using unclean 
sands, or road drifts, argillaceous loams, and even alluvium or 
common soil cannot be too spbedily abolished. Masons are apt 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. • 97 

to compound the mortar with the soil used from the foundations 
regardless of quality, suitability or the natural consequences of 
its employment. 

Clean, sharp bank sand, free from loam and screened, is gen¬ 
erally used in mortars for buildings. 

As calcium or lime is used more extensively for mortars than 
anything else, it may be very desirable to give the various com¬ 
pounds. 

Calcium Oxide, Quick Lime, 

Hydrated Calcium Oxide, Slacked Lime, 

Carbonate Lime, Limestone, 

Crystallized Lime, Marble, 

Fossil Lime, Chalk, 

Sulphate Lime, Gypsum or Plaster of Paris, 

Mineral Phosphate Lime, Apatite. 


98 


powell's foundations 


CHAPTER VII. 

On the preparation of Common Mortar. 

The lime, when perfectly burnt in the kiln, should be packed 
in casks or air-tight vessels, and kept free from all moisture, 
and should be opened only as required. 

Unslacked dry lime fresh from the kiln is termed caustic or 
quick-lime. After water is added to it, it is called slacked lime. 
The exact quantity of water for slacking is in proportion to the 
quality of lime; the fat or rich will absorb more than the 
poor or lean. No definite rule can be given for all localities 
for the use of water. The average is twice the weight of water 
to the lime, but this is only an approximation. It is important 
that the mortar should be used fresh. 

The best or richest limes are made from pure carbonates of 
lime, which usually increase to twice their volume when slacked 
but do not harden well in damp places. Poor limes do not ex¬ 
pand much in volume; neither do poor limes harden well in 
damp places. 

Limes that have been ground are usuallv of inferior quality, 
often mixed with refuse lumps and air-slacked lime. 

Mortar, stuccoes or cements prepared from ill-burnt lime con¬ 
tinue soft and dusty for a long time after being made whereas 
well-burnt and slacked limes soon become thoroughly indurated. 

Rich limes hiss, bubble and throw off great heat during the 
process of slacking. 

The purest limes require the largest proportion of sand and 
water, and harden in less time than the common limes. 

Various substances are sometimes added to mortar to increase 
the tenacity, and they impart thereto the principles of hydraulic 
cement to a greater or less degree. 

They chiefly consist of burnt clay, ashes, scoriae, iron scales 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


99 


and filings, broken pottery, bricks, tiles, etc. They are useful 
in mixing with lime or mortar to increase their hardness, but 
they must be pure and reduced to a fine powder. 

Some of the mason builders in New York and vicinity who 
are large contractors, make building mortar for brick walls of 
the following proportions : 

One barrel of lime, 

Six barrels of sand—sharp bank sand, 
which is calculated to lay one thousand bricks. 

The average number of bricks laid in buildings around New 
York, Brooklyn, etc., for each man is one thousand per day. 
For mortars for this purpose many kinds of limes are used— 
Thomaston, of Maine; Briggs, North River; Snowflake lime, 
of Pleasantville, N. Y., etc., etc. 

The proportion of one measure of quick-lime, either in lumps 
or ground (when lumps exceed three inches each way they re¬ 
quire to be broken), and five measures of sand, is about the 
average used for common mortar by many masons. However, 
architects generally specify one part of lime to three of sand. 

Mortar generally increases in volume one-eighth more than 
the bulk of loose sand. 

In walls that are exposed to dampness, no lime should be 
used, as it will never harden properly. Cement should be used, 
or use burnt clay or fine brick-dust, and mix it with the lime, 
as this forms a kind of hydraulic cement. 

Shell lime is about the same as that from the purest lime-stone. 

The average weight of common hardened mortar is from 105 
to 115 pounds per cubic foot. 

Common grout is merely common mortar made so thin as to 
flow like cream. It is used to fill the interstices left in the mor¬ 
tar joints of masonry or brickwork, and is perhaps best when a 
little cement is added. 

Mortar should be applied wetter in hot than cold weather, 
especially in brick-work, otherwise the water is too much absorb¬ 
ed by the brick. To prevent this, dip each brick for an instant 
in water in some kind of vessel, especially if dusty, as the latter 
impairs the adhesion. 

Where there is a heavy working strain brought on piers, or 
parts of walls, it would be best to use some proportion of cement, 


100 


powell's foundations 


as the tenacity or cohesion in some mortars is not to be relied 
upon until four to six months after being used. This is only 
important where structures are heavily loaded or of considerable 
height. 

• The tenacity of good mortar is usually fifteen and one-half 
pounds per square inch, or one ton per square foot. 

The crushing load may be taken at fifty tons per square foot. 

Laying bricks or building walls when the mortar freezes al¬ 
ways produces weak walls, and brings expense afterwards. 

Common mortar of ashes is prepared by mixing two parts of 
fresh slacked lime with three parts of wood ashes and when 
cold to be well beaten, in which state it is usually kept for some 
time ; and will resist alternate moisture and dryness. By some 
it is considered equal to some of the water cements. 

A kind of cement plaster used around exterior foundation 
walls is made of one part Portland cement, three parts lime, 
and two parts sand, with water sufficient to make a mortar. But 
with Rosendale cement a small proportion of lime, if any, and 
one part sand to one of cement is the best; and even with this 
where it is exposed to dampness, it is best to coat the cement 
with a coat of asphaltum. 

To Color Mortars.* —This may be done by the use of various 
colored sands. There are yellow, silver and gray sands to be 
had in many localities. Colored mica, put on the surface of 
stucco work with a thin mixture of lime-water and lime, first 
wetting the surface, leaves a durable and sparkling finish. Pul¬ 
verized bricks, yellow or red, may be used. Pulverized dust 
from colored marble, also basalt dust, are all durable. Ochres 
stand exposure to the weather, as well as any of the pigments. 

Where black has been used for pointing the joints of brick- ' 
work, the mortar requires so much black to make the color that 
the mortar becomes poor and washes off. 

Spanish brown is a species of earth of a reddish-brown color, 
which depends upon the sesqui-oxide of iron. 

The best quality of lamp-black made into putty and used for 
pointing will retain its color. 

* There are now pigments manufactured expressly for use in mortars that 
are said to hold their colors excellently. 




AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


IOI 


A dry powder, known as Spanish brown, added to cement or 
mortar is considered a permanent color. 

Gravel Sidewalks are usually laid by mixing the gravel with 
the sand and lime ; i. e. f Ten bushels of gravel. One to two 
bushels of sand. Half bushel of lime. Of course it is required 
to dig trenches, and lay down common concrete or broken 

stone, to bed the walks on. 

* 

To Color Bricks Black. —Heat asphaltum to a fluid state, and 
moderately heat the surface bricks and dip them in it. 

Another method is to make a hot mixture of linseed oil and 
asphalt; heat the bricks and dip them. Tar and asphalt are al¬ 
so used for the same purpose. It is important that the bricks 
be sufficiently hot and held in the mixture long enough to ab¬ 
sorb the color, to the depth of one-sixteenth of an inch. 

Also, for Staining Bricks Red or Black.—A process similar to 
staining bricks red will answer for staining them black, by sub¬ 
stituting lampblack for the red employed. For the red, melt one 
ounce of glue in one gallon of water. Add a piece of alum the 
size of an egg, then one-half pound Venetian red, and one pound 
Spanish brown. Try the color on the bricks before using, and 
change light or dark with the red or brown. For staining black 
use the same, and instead of the alum use bi-chromate of potash. 
Use as soon as made, and in dry weather. 

Yenetian Cement. —Used for covering floors, terraces and 
roofs of houses, it is composed of plaster of paris, sulphur, rosin, 
pitch and spirits of turpentine or wax, and applied when hot. 

Coal Ash Mortar. —Lime, two and a half measures; sand, two and 
a half; coal ashes, two and a half; and puzzolana, one and a half. 

Puzzolana Mortar —For lining cisterns, consists of slacked 
lime, sixteen parts or measures ; puzzolana, eight; sand, five 
and a quarter; beaten glass, four; and smith's cinders, four. 
This was, with the other three, used at Gibraltar in 1790. 

Dutch Terras Mortar. —(Terras is a basaltic mineral found in 
the low counties of Holland.) This is formed of equal parts of 
lime and terras by measure. 

Very fat lime is incapable of hardening in water. 


102 


powell’s foundations 


Lime, a little hydraulic.] Slakes like lime when 

44 quite .[-properlycalcined, and 

“ 44 “ 30 per cent, clay. J hardens under water. 


Lime 

Clay 



60 per cent. 

40 per cent. 

IPlastic or hydraulic cement Does not slake under 

50 44 

50 “ 

u u u 

any circumstances, and 

40 “ 

60 “ 

it it u 

hardens under water 
with rapidity. 

30 “ 

70 “ 

Calcareous brick puzzolana 

it U it 

Does not slake or hard- 

20 “ 

80 44 

en under water, unless 

10 “ 

00 44 

it it it 

mixed with fat or hy¬ 
draulic lime. 


TABLE. 

One Bushel Mortar..130 pounds. 

One u Sand.110 to 120 44 

One 44 Lime...80 44 

One 44 Hair. 8 “ 

Cattle hair is collected from tanneries. It is best of medium 
length, fresh and clean. Vegetable fibre of hair has been used 
some, but not extensively. 

Plastering or Stucco. —When buildings are plastered on the 
exterior, or parts exposed to the weather, it is usually called 
stucco-work (the same word stucco is in use for inside work). 
But this kind of finishing rough walls is not much in use in this 
country. 

There are two kinds of stucco ; those made of lime, and those 
of cement. Cement stucco is disagreeable in color, and only 
used where protection to the walls or a very hard surface is want¬ 
ed. The cement color may be covered with paint, and when used 
it is often painted. In working the first coat it may be well to 
work it with cement plaster, and for the second coat use equal 
parts of quick-lime and cement with silver or light grey colored 
sand. Colors mixed with the stucco, such as umbers or ochres 
get dingy and very unsightly in time. Mineral color that is not 
liable to atmospheric change is the best. 

To make a light brown shade, use silver or as white sand as 
possible, and in this mix pulverized brown stone or brown sand¬ 
stone. The pulverized stone dust from colored marble may be 
used, also basalt dust. 




























AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


103 


Pulverized bricks, yellow or red, may be used where the color 
is known to be permanent. The same process as mentioned 
above is the best for exterior pointing, as most coloring substan¬ 
ces wash off. 

An external stucco, when made with hydraulic lime of Tiel, 
is composed thus : Lime of Tiel, one part; two of chalk, and two 
of sand. 

Exterior walls have to be prepared for plastering by wetting 
them, and leaving the joints open and rough, and during the 
work care should be taken to have the green material protected 
from the weather, particularly drying winds or heat of the sun. 
This is done by using muslin or canvass on the scaffolding. 

Exterior plastering or stucco is usually done in two coat- 
work. Both coats done about the same time—that is, the first 
coat is done sufficiently long for it to have set in the joints, and 
to sustain the second coat. 

The plasterer examines his work to find any places where it 
has not adhered—say three or four days after the work is first 
done. 

Lime and cement, equal parts, (thoroughly mix the lime be¬ 
fore compounding with the cement, sand and water), mixed 
with sand and water makes a good stucco. 

An artificial stone stucco which seems very good, is made of 
one part lime or cement and four parts sand, to which after 
slacking add four ounces potash or soda, dissolved in one gallon 
boiling water, and add one pound shellac. When this is dis¬ 
solved mix with the plaster, and use at once. 

There are quite a number of cements that do not stand well 
for stucco-work. 

Inside Plastering —Is done in a variety of ways, from one to 
three coats of mortar plastering on walls, ceilings, etc. 

When one-coat work is required, the plasterers have to be 
careful in laying or nailing the laths regular. One-coat work is 
known as the scratch coat, and generally finished with light 
hand-floating to give an even finish, to receive a white or color 
wash finish if desired. If it is the intention to kalsomine on 
one-coat work, a very good finish may be made by using some 
hard-finish on the hawk (a flat board to hold plaster on, held in 


powell’s foundations 


.•'O ! 

104 

the hand), and hand-float the surface with water in the brush. 
Back buildings and the second stories and attics of farm-houses 
are often finished this way. It is very important in putting on 
the first coat, to press the mortar firmly between the laths so 
as to fill up the spaces between, and clinch over the edge of the 
laths. When the first coat is ready to receive the second or 
browning coat, the surface, before being perfectly dry, is 
scratched or pricked up on the surface with a hand rake made 
of laths; the lines are generally crossed like lattice-work, but 
rough. 

The proportion for the scratch coat is as follows: One part 
quick-lime, four parts sand, and one-quarter to one-third measure 
of cattle or goat’s hair. It is usually put on from three-eighths 
to one-half inch in thickness. 

For Two-coal Work and Finish.—The scratch coat is general¬ 
ly done as in one-coat work, and worked on the surface roughly, 
but level with hand-floating. It is required to keep the work 
plumb and true, and scratched to receive the second coat, 
which is known by the name of browning. Where, as in this 
case, the plastering is finished with two coats, the second coat 
is usually one-quarter or three-eighths inch thick, and will make 
a very handsome finish if done with three parts clear grey or silver 
sand ; mixed with one part gauge stuff or plaster of paris putty, 
one part fine stuff or lump lime slacked into a paste, and suffi¬ 
cient clean hair to hold in position the coat when set. This 
coat is thoroughly floated and troweled. 

Another way is to use the same mortar, known as coarse stiff\ 
for the second coat, but with less hair, and before it is dry to 
float it thoroughly with hand-float, brush, trowel and water, with 
some gauge stuff and a little sand, forming a skim finish. This 
is done in several ways, but with slight variation, the same 
material being used. 

Three-cotit Work and Finish.—Prepare wood furring by cov¬ 
ering it with wood or metal laths. Wood laths should break 
joint every eighteen to twenty inches, and be laid about three- 
eighths to one-half inch apart. On this work the first or scratch 
coat is to be placed on the wall, and after it is thoroughly dry, 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


105 


followed by the second or browning coat; and the third is gauge 
stuff for hard-finish. This is worked on the second coat with 
a trowel for one hand, and sometimes for two hands ; and by 
using a wet brush ; skilled mechanics often make very fine sur¬ 
faces in this manner. This coat is usually one-eighth inch thick, 
and is composed of fine stuff lime , slacked to a paste, three 
parts ; plaster of paris, or gauge stuffy one part. No more is 
made than can be worked up in say half an hour. 

Gauge stuff is used chiefly for mouldings and cornices—the 
moulds beings made of zinc or sheet iron, and secured to a 
wooden template with handles to run the template with mould¬ 
ings. For this purpose it is common to mix gradually one-third 
plaster of paris with two-thirds fine stuff. When the work can 
be done rapidly, equal parts may be used. 

Gauge stuff is used for securing ornaments to the walls or 
ceilings and plaster decorations. Plasterers cast sections of 
ornamental cornices in lengths of about three feet, and bring 
them fresh to the structure, and set them in position. By this 
means rooms are decorated in New York and vicinity at about 
the same price as plain, heavy moulded cornice work can be done. 
The moulds that are used for this purpose are made of wax, 
rosin and oil, and are usually kept for use by ornamental plas¬ 
terers. 

Stucco finish is usually made of fine stuff with white sand— 
four parts sand, and one part fine stuff. There are other 
rules for stucco finish. 

Less cattle hair is required in the plaster on brick walls than 
on laths, and usually stone and brick walls have but one strong 
wall coat, and on this it is finished with lime and plaster of par¬ 
is, as in the last coat of three-coat work. The walls should be 
rough, clean and dampened. 

One hundred yards of plastering will require 1,400 laths, in 
calculating as there is much waste, and four and a half bushels 
of lime, eighteen bushels of sand, nine pounds of hair, and five 
pounds of nails for two-coat work. 

One hundred yards of plastering for three-coat work requires 
seven bushels of lime, one load of sand, nine pounds of hair, five 
pounds of nails, and 1,400 laths. 

Several plasterers in New York and vicinity give the follow- 


io6 


powell’s foundations 


ing data : 1,000 laths will cover 666 sq. ft. One barrel of lime, 
one cart-load of sand, and three bushels of goat hair will scratch 
coat and brown coat a surface of twenty-five square yards. 

Oyster-shell lime is only used for scratch coats, owing to the 
salt in the lime. Wood-burned lime is always the best. A 
great quantity of Pennsylvania lime is burned with coal, and has 
to be sifted, leaving often too large a proportion of core, which 
has to be thrown away. Nearly all plasterers use the lime that 
will work the easiest with least labor, and use materials that pay 
the best with labor. Thomaston or Rockland lime is used by 
plasterers generally in vicinity of New York. Glenn’s Falls 
lime is very pure, and is used only in the ornamental arts. 


PLASTERING. 


1 INCH. 


3-4 inch. 


1-2 INCH. 


One bushel Cement, or 1.28 cubic ft. 

will cover.11-8 sup. yd. 

One “ u and one of sand 21-4 “ 

One u u u two “ |31-4 u 


11-2 sq. yd. 

q u 

41-2 “ 


21-2 sq. yds. 
41-2 u * 

6 3-4 “ 


One cubic yard of lime, two cubic yards of sand and three 
bushels of hair will cover seventy-five superficial feet of rough 
or scratch coat on wall, or seventy yards on lath. 

One bundle of laths and 500 nails will cover about four and a 
half yards. 

Mortar, Plaster, &c. 

Stone Mortar ;—Cement, 8 parts ; lime, 3 parts ; sand, 3 parts. 
Mortar. —Lime 1 part; sharp, clean sand, 2 1-2 parts. An excess 
of water in slaking the lime swells the mortar which remains 
light and porous, or shrinks in drying ; an excess of sand destroys 
the cohesive properties of the mass. Brown Mortar. —Lime, 1 
part; sand 2 parts, and a small quantity of hair. Brick Mortar. 
—Cement, 3 parts ; lime, 3 parts ; sand, 27 parts. Lime and 
sand, and cement and sand, lessen about 1-3 in volume when 
mixed together. Turkish Mortar. —Powdered brick and tiles, 
1 part; fine sifted lime, 2 parts; mix with water to a proper con¬ 
sistency. Very useful on massive or very solid buildings. 
Interior Plastering. —Coarse Stuff.—Common lime mortar as 
made for brick masonry, with a small quantity of hair; or by 
volumes, lime paste (30 lbs. lime), 1 part ; sand, 2 to 2 1-2 parts ; 
hair, 1-6 part. When full time for hardening cannot be allowed 













AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


107 


substitute for from 15 to 20 per cent, of the lime an equal por¬ 
tion of hydraulic cement. For the second or brown coat the 
proportion of hair may be slightly diminished. Fine Stuff .— 
(Lime putty); Lump lime slaked to a paste with a moderate 
volume of water, and afterwards diluted to the consistency of 
cream, and then evaporate to the required consistency for work¬ 
ing. This is used as a slipped coat, and when mixed with sand 
or plaster of paris, it is used for the finishing coat. Gauge Stuff 
or Hard Finish is composed of 3 or 4 volumes of fine stuff and 
one volume of plaster of paris, in proportions regulated by the de¬ 
gree of rapidity required in hardening for cornices, etc., the pro¬ 
portions are an equal volume of each, viz., fine stuff and plaster. 

Stucco is composed of from 3 to 4 volumes of white sand to 1 
volume of fine stuff or lime putty. 

Scratch Coat. —The first of 3 coats when laid upon laths, and 
is from 1-4 to 3-8 of an inch in thickness. One-Coat Work.— 
Plastering in 1 coat without finish that is rendered or laid eith¬ 
er on masonry or laths. Two-Coat Work. —Plastering in 2 coats 
is done either in a laying coat and set, or in a screed coat and 
set. The Screed Coat is also termed a Floated Coat. Laying 
the first coat in two-coat work is resorted to in common work 
instead of screeding when the finished surface is not required 
to be exact to a straight-edge. It is laid in a coat of about 1-2 
inch in thickness. The laying coat, except for very common 
work should be hand-floated, as the tenacity and firmness of the 
work is much increased thereby. Screeds are strips of mortar 
twenty-six to twenty-eight inches in width and of the required 
thickness of the first coat applied to the angles of a room or 
edge of a wall and also in parallel strips at intervals of three to 
five feet over the surface to be covered. 

When these have become sufficiently hard to withstand the 
pressure of a straight-edge, the interspaces between the screeds 
should be filled out flush with them, so as to produce a continu¬ 
ous and straight, even surface. 

Slipped Coat is the smoothing off of a brown coat with a small 
quantity of lime putty, mixed with 3 per cent, of white sand so 
as to make a comparatively even surface. This finish answers 
when the surface is to be finished in distemper or paper. 


io8 


powell’s foundations 


Hard Finish. —Fine stuff applied with a trowel to the depth 
of about one-third of an inch. 

Cement for External Use. —Ashes 2 parts ; clay 3 parts ; sand 
1 part; mix with a little oil. Very durable. 

Asphalt Composition. —Mineral pitch one part; bitumen elev¬ 
en parts ; powdered stone or wood ashes seven parts. 

Asphalt Mastic is composed of nearly pure carbonate of lime 
and about nine or ten per cent, of bitumen. When in a state of 
powder it is mixed with seven per cent, of bitumen or mineral 
pitch. The powdered asphalt is mixed with the bitumen in a 
melted state along with clean gravel, making it of a consistency 
that will pour into moulds. The asphalt is ductile, and has elas¬ 
ticity to enable it with the small stones sifted upon it to resist 
ordinary wear. Sun and rain do not affect it, wear and tear do 
not seem to injure it. The pedestrian in many cities in the 
United States and Canada can readily detect its presence on the 
sidewalk by its peculiar yielding to the foot as he steps over it. 
It is also a most excellent roofing material when rightly applied. 

Asphalt for Walks. —Take two parts very dry lime rubbish, 
and one part coal ashes, also very dry, sift all fine, mix in a dry 
place on a dry day, leaving a hole in the middle of the heap as 
bricklayers do when making mortar. Into this pour boiling hot 
coal-tar; mix, and when as stiff as mortar, put on the walk 
three inches thick : (the ground should be dry and beaten 
smooth) ; sprinkle over it coarse sand. When cold, pass a light 
roller over it: in a few days the walk will be solid and water¬ 
proof. 

Mastic Cement for Covering the Fronts of Houses. —Fifty 

parts by measure of clean, dry sand; fifty of limestone (not 
burned) reduced to grains like sand, or marble dust, and ten 
parts of red-lead mixed with as much boiled linseed oil as will 
make it slightly moist. The bricks to receive it should be cov¬ 
ered with three coats of boiled oil, laid on with a brush and suf¬ 
fered to dry before the mastic is put on. It is laid on with a 
trowel like plaster, but is not so moist. It becomes hard as 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


IO9 

stone in a few months. Care must be exercised not to use too 
much oil. 

Cement for Tile Roofs. —Equal parts of whiting and dry sand, 
and twenty-five per cent, of litharge, made to the consistency of 
putty with linseed-oil. It is not liable to crack when cold nor 
melt like coal-tar and asphalt, with the heat of the sun. 

Cement for the Outside of Brick Walls. —Cement for the 
outside of brick walls to imitate stone, is made of clean sand 
ninety parts; litharge five parts; plaster of paris five parts ; 
moistened with boiled linseed oil. The bricks should receive 
• two or three coats of oil before the cement is applied. 

Mexican Method of Making Hard Lime Floors. —This method 
is used extensively in some parts of Northern Mexico, where 
they become very hard. 

“The limestone used is a hard, compact blue material in some 
places sufficiently hard to strike fire on the drills used in quar¬ 
rying it. It often contains iron pyrites in small proportions ; this is 
calcined in kilns cut out of soft limestone. After calcination 
the lime is removed from the kilns and slacked as soon as cool. 
Part of a lot made this way was used within a day or two and 
part remained a month or more in barrels. All the work made 
with it seemed to be equally good. In making the floors a layer 
of broken limestone, three or four inches thick was first laid 
evenly over the surface of the ground. The stone being about 
the usual size for macadamizing roads, over this a mortar of 
about two parts of sand to one of lime was carefully spread to 
the thickness of one and one-half to two inches, this was 
allowed to remain for twenty-four hours ; or until the surface 
had become quite dry. It would probably take longer in this 
climate, where there is more moisture in the air. The floor was then 
thoroughly pounded with a block of wood one foot square hav¬ 
ing a handle so that a man could stand while using it. The 
whole surface was beaten over with this ram until it was again 
as soft and moist as when first laid. This operation of ramming 
brought the water in the mortar to the surface, so as to form a layer 
of semi-fluid substance on the top. The floor was again allowed 
to dry: and again beaten over each day for a week when the 


no 


powell’s foundations 


operation brought only slight amount of moisture to the surface. 
Immediately after the last pounding the whole surface was 
powdered with a thin layer of red ochre evenly sifted on and 
then polished as follows : 

A smooth, nearly flat water-worn stone, a little larger than 
the ram was selected from the bed of a stream, and with this 
the whole floor was laboriously gone over; rubbing down and 
leaving the surface of the lime as smooth as a piece of polished 
stone ; the red of the ochre making it of a rich brown color. 

In less than a week the floors made in this way were suffi¬ 
ciently hard to bear the weight of a horse without indentation. 

Roofs are made in the same manner; these roofs are perfect¬ 
ly water-tight. In the city of Monterey sidewalks of the princi¬ 
pal streets are made in the same manner : some of them have 
lasted for years, wearing through like a stone. The great dura¬ 
bility and strength of these floors and roofs is entirely owing to 
the pounding operation as herein described, as the same ma¬ 
terials were tried in the ordinary way without success.” 

This method does not seem to have been used in this section 
of country. 

Selenitic Mortar or Cement. —By the Selenitic process of 
mortar making, ordinary limes can be made into mortar that, 
instead of slacking with heat and considerable expansion, will 
have the action of cement imparted to them ; with the further 
advantage that they will bear a larger proportion of sand than 
can be mixed with cements without the strength of the cement 
being materially affected. But as simple as the process is, it re¬ 
quires to be thoroughly understood or failure will be the result. 
This process Captain Hyde Scott, Royal Engineer of England, 
seems to have brought into use some twenty years ago. 

In the selenitic process, ordinary stone limes, containing not 
less than twenty per cent, of clay—such as the lias limes of Eng¬ 
land and those which come from the lower chalk beds; for in¬ 
stance Dorking, Burham and Mailing limes—are made to slack 
without heat and without expansion; to carry twice as much 
sand, and in a short time to attain a considerably greater degree 
of strength than can be got from the same limes used in the ordinary 
way. This is all brought about by merely adding a small propor- 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


Ill 


tion of sulphate of lime in the shape of plaster of paris. The 
sulphate of lime must be brought in contact with the ordinary 
lime while it is in an anhydrous condition, or in other words, be- 
fore the lime has been slacked. The proportion of plaster of 
paris required to be used is very small, about one-twentieth the 
bulk of the lime, if the lime-contains twenty per cent, of clay. 
There is only one way of mixing them, and that is by mixing 
the requisite amount of plaster of paris, or a certain proportion 
of it, before the water is added to the quick-lime. Of course it 
is understood that the lime used must be ground. 

Selenitic Clay .—Limes such as those obtained from the upper 
chalk formations, which contain less than twenty percent, of clay 
mixed with them, require the addition of too large a proportion 
of plaster of paris to effectually prevent heating and expansion in 
the process of slacking. Consequently this deficiency has to be 
made good by the addition of what is called “selenitic clay,” which 
consists of a marly clay or shale, well burned and ground to 
powder; as much as two bushels of this selenitic clay may be 
mixed with one bushel of lime. 

Mixing Selenitic Mortar and Concrete. —The best method of 
mixing is to stir up one pint of plaster of paris in a two-gallon pail of 
water and empty into the pan of a mortar mill (a five-foot mill 
is a good size), or use an ordinary plaster tub, then add four gal¬ 
lons of water only; let the pan take three or four turns, and 
then add one bushel of prepared lime; and when reduced to a 
creamy paste put in the sand or other material used, and con¬ 
tinue mixing for ten minutes. If unprepared lime is used the 
only difference would be that about three pints of plaster would 
be added to the water in place of one. 

Proportion of Sind to Lime. —In ordinary mortar making, 
only two or three parts of sand can be advantageously mixed 
with one of lime; and the larger proportion of sand only with 
the purer limes : whilst with the selenitic process, we find from 
four to six parts of sand to one of lime gives the best and 
strongest results, but the lime for this process should be ground 
as it can be worked better: if it is not convenient to have it 
ground then make as before mentioned. 


I 12 


powell’s foundations 


Pulling tiro 
bricks apart. 

134 lbs. 
x 329 lbs. 

* Base area 7.84 square inches, 
t Section area 5 square inches. 

X Area of point of contact equal 18.5 square inches. 


Common Mortar 
Selenitic Mortar 


1 Lime, 2 Sand, 
1 Lime, 6 Sand, 


Thrusting 

stress. 

Tl7 lbsT 
*1657 lbs. 


Tensile 

stress. 


116 lbs. 
f 360 lbs. 


Experiment made with Lee’s Durham (English) Lime. 


Concrete Construction. — On the Chester sewage works, 
England, in reference to the construction of Tanks, the Engi¬ 
neer states: “Cement concrete has been resorted to as a sub¬ 
stitute for brickwork; and as a substitute it may succeed 
well enough provided the persons engaged in the performance 
of the work have had experience in the use of the materials and 
take a personal interest in their work.” 

First , as to the Cement Concrete. —The concrete was said to 
have been composed of the following measured proportions : 
gravel six parts, sand one part, cement one part. If the cement 
was reliable these proportions ought to result in first-class con¬ 
crete. I prefer the Lias cement if properly manufactured—it 
is made of the Lias limestone of Warwickshire. 

Second , as to the Lime Concrete. —This was understood to have 
been made in the following measured proportions: gravel 
five parts, sand uncertain and variable but in small quantities, 
Rugby or Holywell ground lime one part. These proportions 
formed a rich concrete which may have been improved in its 
final hardening properties by a larger proportion of sharp sand. 
I prefer also that the lime and sand shall be made into a well 
mixed mortar before being added to the gravel. The strength 
of all concrete depends on the intimate blending of angular sand 
with the cementitious matter, for without that a proper crystal¬ 
lization is not obtained. 

Third , as to tJie Mortar. —This was stated to consist of : lime 
two parts and sand two parts, cinders one part. This was not 
a good material. The sand was in fact crushed sandstone, and 
the cinders were really slags of steam boilers. These were 
ground with the lime under edgestones until the whole was re¬ 
duced to an impalpable mixture, rather like limey mud. The 
sand should have been sharp and angular, the cinders should 










AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


113 


have been smith s ashes, containing the usual proportion of iron 
oxides. Hand made or well pegged mortar is to be preferred for 
engineering purposes to finely crushed mortar. 

ANCIENT CEMENTS. 

Abstract of Article by Arthur Beckwith, C. E. 

The monuments of Egypt present one of the oldest exam¬ 
ples of the use of lime for constructions. The mortar which 
joins the stone of the Pyramid of Cheops is precisely similar to 
modern mortars made of sand and lime. In limiting; the use of 
mortar to filling narrow joints which separate immense blocks, 
and thereby reducing almost to insignificance the part which it has 
to play, the Egyptians seemed to forestall the influence of a dry 
and burning climate. Time has justified their prudence in this 
respect, for the works erected on the banks of the Nile by the 
Romans, made of small materials and presenting many joints, 
have left but faint traces, whilst some Egyptian temples still 
present themselves intact to our admiration. 

Unqualified praise has often been given to the excellence of 
Roman mortar, and the belief is sometimes expressed that all 
we can hope to do is to regain the secret of making mortar once 
possessed by the Romans. It is a common remark that “Roman 
mortar has lasted for eighteen centuries, whilst a number of 
modern buildings are in a deplorable state of preservation.” 

To make a fair comparison, we should, however, only cite sim¬ 
ilar constructions, and then we are comforted by these words 
of Pliny: “The cause which makes so many houses fall in 
Rome, resides in the bad quality of the cement.” 

The knowledge of the properties of lime descended from 
Egypt to Greece, where the exigences of the climate and the in¬ 
genuity of the people brought forth many of its uses, unknown 
to Egypt. 

Subsequently Greek colonies imported and popularized their 
processes in Italy ; and Roman architects, like Vitruvius, cite 
the names of Greek authors on the art of construction. Their 
names alone have come down to us, but Vitruvius had full access 
to them, and in our inquiry after the knowledge of mortar pos- 


* From the proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers. 





powell’s foundations 


i 14 

sessed by the Romans, it is to him that we must refer for infor¬ 
mation. Indeed, he has left us a detailed table of precepts used 
by the builders of Greece and Rome, which do not justify our 
unreserved admiration ; everything relating to lime, sand and 
pozzolana is clearly treated therein. 

We may safely affirm, with Vitruvius, that the Romans made 
use of the lime, sand and materials of the countries where they 
built; that they considered the best lime to be produced from 
hard and pure marble, i. e ., the fattest lime known ; that in Italy 
they mixed it with pozzolana when used for hydraulic purposes, 
and that out of Italy they replaced the pozzolana from Vesuvius, 
by powdered brick or tile. 

Roman mortars, when examined today are found to bear a 
distinct resemblance to each other ; they may be recognized by 
the presence of coarse sand mixed with gravel; lumps of lime 
are so often to be met with, that incomplete slaking will alone 
account for them. Mortars laid in damp spots for cisterns and 
pavements were composed of bricks in small fragments mixed 
with fat lime ; this concrete required to be compacted by pound¬ 
ing and left to dry—the surface was then scraped, polished and 
painted—evidently to prevent the dissolution of lime by water. 

It will be seen by this that what we term hydraulic lime, and 
also the modern product of cement, were unknown to the Rom¬ 
ans. 

It. is important to refute the belief that methods may have been 
known to them of which we have lost the secret. When the de¬ 
cay of arts followed upon the downfall of the Roman Empire, 
houses nevertheless continued to be built, and the familiar pro¬ 
cesses under the eye of the workman must have been transmit¬ 
ted from father to son. So true is this, that today Italian ma¬ 
sons, who certainly have not read Vitruvius, make coatings for 
cisterns and concrete floors in the very same manner as may 
still be seen in the ancient ruins of Rome. 

Neither is it true that Roman mortar is uniformly good. Its 
strength of cohesion varies in different examples from 35 to 85 
lbs. per square inch to 100 and 160 lbs., or as much as 500 per 
cent. 

In the middle ages a volcanic conglomerate from the banks 
of the Rhine, named, traass, was substituted for the pozzolana 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 115 

of Italy, and mortar was made of fat lime, mixed with traass, 
to render it hydraulic. 

Many castles erected during that period stand well today ; 
the well-known castle of the Bastile, erected in 1369-83, which 
after withstanding a siege required the use of powder for its de¬ 
struction in 1789, was found to be extremely solid even in the 
interior walls. 

It would seem, then, that the secret of the Romans was 
known also in those times, and could have been lost only at the 
Renaissance, when least of all such a supposition is probable. 

At what period were first used certain limestones, having the 
property of producing a lime which will harden under water; 
it is not precisely known ; the first use of cement stone is equally 
obscure. 

In 1796 Messrs. Parker and Wyatts began to manufacture 
from egg-shaped limestones found near London, a product known 
later as Roman Cement, and which was soon received with great 
favor throughout Europe; but neither the producers nor the 
consumers offered any explanation of its merits. 

Not until 1818 and the following years was the true explana¬ 
tion given to the hydraulic properties of limes and cements, 
when Vicat published his discoveries. 

Before that, in 1756, when Smeaton was preparing the ardu¬ 
ous and bold construction of the Eddystone Lighthouse, this 
celebrated engineer examined with scrupulous attention the nat¬ 
ural hydraulic lime of Aberthaw. Treated by acids it left a 
residue “which appeared to be a bluish clay, weighing about one- 
eighth of the total weight of the stone/’ 

In 1786, Saussure attributed the hydraulic properties of some 
limes of Savoy to the combined influence of manganese, quartz, 
and even clay; but he left his opinions in the mere state of con¬ 
jectures. 

Finally, Descostils, in 1813, having discovered a considerable 
proportion of finely divided silica in the lime of Senonches, at¬ 
tributed the well known hydraulicity of that lime to the silica it 
contained. 

But the conjectures of Smeaton, of Saussure and of Descostils 
were vague ; they rested upon no proofs, and found no applica¬ 
tions in practice. 


1 


I 


ii 6 powell’s foundations 

The discoveries of Vicat attained their immediate object, for 
in a short time artificial hydraulic lime of excellent quality was 
manufactured on a large scale under his direction, and a few 
years later he indicated as many as 400 quarries in France where 
hydraulic limestones were to be found. 

The following valuable selection is from an English journal: 

"Rapidity of Set. —Very rapid setting and great strength are 
not met with in the same cement; but in many cases the quick¬ 
er setting and lighter cements are most useful. It is believed 
that before long light Portland cements will be manufactured, 
capable of competing with the Roman cements, in quickness of 
setting, and surpassing them in uniformity of quality. 

The following table contains the result of a series of experi¬ 
ments made by Mr. J. Grant, C. E., London, England, with 
Portland cement, weighing 123 lbs. per bushel:— 


Average Breaking Test of Ten Specimens . 


Age. 

Neat Cement. 

1 Cement, 1 Sand. 

7 days . 

lbs. 

817-1 

lbs. 

353-2 

1 month. 

93o-8 

452-5 

3 “ . 

1055-9 

547-5 

6 “ . 

1176-6 

640-3 

9 “ .. 

1219-5 

692-4 

12 “ . 

1229-7 

716-6 

2 years . 

1324-9 

790-3 

3 “ . 

1314-4 

784-7 

4 “ . 

1312-6 

818-1 

5 *• . . 

1306-8 

821-0 

6 “ . 

1308-0 

819-5 

7 “ . 

1327-3 

803-6 


The whole of the specimens were kept in water from the time 
of their being made up to the time of testing, and the breaking 
weight applies to a sectional area of 1 1-2 inches square, or 2.25 
inches super. It appears from these experiments that neat ce¬ 
ment of 123 lbs. per bushel took two years to attain its full 
strength, whilst the admixture of sand, in addition to weakening 
the specimens, also delayed their attaining their maximum pow¬ 
ers of resistance. 






















AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


ii 7 

Color. —A dull earthy color denotes an excess of clay ; whilst 
tool ight a color is the result of either under-burning or an ex¬ 
cess of lime, or of both these faults combined. 

Packing the Cement. —Since Portland, unlike Roman cement, 
improves within certain limits by exposure to the air, it need 
not be packed in air-tight casks (except for exportation), but 
kept dry. The casks in which it is packed generally contain 
four cwt., and the bags two cwt. 

Water for Mixing. —Salt water does no injury to the strength 
of the cement, but must be avoided where efflorescence or damp 
on the surface would be objectionable. 

Both cement, mortar and concrete should be made with as 
little water as will suffice to make the whole cling together. 
When too much is used, the finer particles of the cement get 
separated from the rest and float away, or on the surface in the 
form of a slime. In mixing concrete, if the ballast is porous and 
dry, more water will be required than if damp or non-absorbent. 

Sand, Gravel, and other Materials for Mixing with Portland 

Cement. —Experience has shown that porous materials, by allow¬ 
ing the cement to enter the pores, and so retain a firm hold on 
them, are the best for mixing with cement: thus, well-burnt 
broken bricks, clay ballast, furnace slag or breeze, will form a 
stronger concrete than if made with the harder but smoother 
and less porous stones in gravel or shingle; but it must be 
borne in mind that in such cases a slightly larger proportion of 
cement is advisable to compensate for what is absorbed by the 
pores of the material. No importance need be attached to the 
shape of the particles of sand or other materials used—such as 
whether angular or water-worn—though a certain roughness of 
surface gives a better hold to the cement than if too smooth. 
The presence of dirt, such as loam, clay and vegetable matter 
liable to decay, has a prejudicial effect upon cement, and sensi¬ 
bly weakens either mortar or concrete. 

The gravel, broken stone, or other material used in making 
concrete, should have sufficient small stuff and sand mixed with 
it to fill up the interstices between the larger pieces. When 
this is not already the case, the amount of small stuff and sand 


ii 8 


powell’s foundations 


which ought to be added may be ascertained by filling up any 
suitable measure, of uniform section from top to bottom, with 
the gravel, &c., striking it level with the top, and then adding 
as much water as the measure will contain. The water may 
then be run off through a hole in the bottom of the measure, 
the gravel, &c., removed from it, and the water replaced in it; 
the amount of water expressed in terms of the internal height 
of the measure will be the proportion of small stuff which should 
be added to the ballast 

Proportion of Cement in Mortar and Concrete.— As cement is 
not used, on account of the cost, unless special strength is re¬ 
quired, the proportions in general use are i cement to either I 
or 2 sand; below this the advantage gained by its use diminish¬ 
es rapidly. In general terms neat cement is one-third stronger 
than if mixed with i sand, and twice as strong as when mixed 
with 2 sand. 

For concrete, i cement to io or even 12 gravel, or other ma¬ 
terial, is sufficient for masses in foundations, dock walls, &c.; 
i to 8 or 6, for ordinary walls, according to their thickness ; and 
i to 4 for floors, and other places where great transverse strength 
is necessary. 

Mixing and Laying Portland Cement Concrete. —The best 
method of mixing concrete in large quantities is, taking a meas¬ 
ure of convenient capacity for one mixing, to half fill the meas¬ 
ure with the broken ballast, or other material, and then add the 
cement ; finally filling up the measure with the ballast. The 
measure should then be lifted off, when the whole will fall into 
a heap, the cement partially mixing with the ballast in so doing, 
and not being so liable to get wasted by being blown about by 
the wind, as when emptied over the top of the ballast heap. The 
whole should be turned over twice dry, and then shovelled to a 
third heap, sufficient water only being added in so doing—by 
sprinkling from the rose of a watering-pot—to make the ingre¬ 
dient cling together in a pasty mass. The floor upon which it 
is mixed should be hard and clean. 

The concrete may either be wheeled off and deposited in po¬ 
sition, or, if more convenient, may be thrown down, but in both 
cases, more especially in the former, it is advisable to beat it 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. II9 

down lightly with wooden beaters until the moisture comes to 
the surface. 

On no account should it be sent down a shoot, or the finer 
and coarser ingredients will get separated in the descent, the 
former clinging more to the sides of the shoot, whilst the latter 
will reach the bottom first, and get shot out into a heap by them¬ 
selves. 

Not to bo disturbed whilst Sotting. —When cement-work has 
once been laid, it must not be touched until quite hard, for its 
strength will be materially affected if the particles are disturbed 
after the process of setting has commenced. 

Brieks, Stones, &c.,to be Wet-tod.—All absorbent surfaces or 
materials, with which cement is to come in contact, should be 
well wetted, or they will rob the cement of the moisture neces¬ 
sary to enable it to set hard; but the water should not be oozing 
out of them, or the cement, being unable to enter their pores, 
will fail to adhere properly to them. For this reason broken 
brick ballast,- &c., if quite dry, will require more water in con¬ 
crete making, than if already damp, and old dry walls will re¬ 
quire more wetting than new or external damp walls. 

Cement to be kept Damp while Setting. —Cement-work must 
be kept damp until set quite hard, or it will become rotten from 
the evaporation of the water of mixing, which is essential to the 
proper setting of the cement: hence the most suitable time for 
executing cement-work is in damp weather. When the work 
has to be done in dry weather, special care is necessary to keep 
it damp, and to protect it from the sun’s rays. Flat surfaces, 
such as floors, paving, &c., should, if practicable, be kept flood¬ 
ed with water or covered with a layer of sawdust or sand 3 or 4 
inches thick, which should be kept quite damp for at least sev¬ 
en days, or until the cement has become quite hard. * In sur¬ 
faces exposed to traffic this is most important, as the cement, if 
at all perished, will soon wear away. 

Avoid imbedding Iron in Cement. —Cement mixed with sand 
and other materials is porous, admitting both moisture and air; 
iron, therefore imbedded in cement-work, is liable to rust, and 


120 


powell’s foundations 

the expansive force accompanying this process will split up cem¬ 
ent, stone, or any similar unyielding material; if the iron is gal¬ 
vanized it is not affected by the cement. 

Description of Portland Cement. 

Characteristics of good Portland Ceme?it. 

The following explanations about the uses of Portland cement 
will apply to a great extent to all other cements. 

1. Fineness. —It should, when passed through a copper wire 
sieve of 2,500 meshes per square inch, not leave more than 20 
per cent, of grit behind. The cement sifted should not be less 
than 25 lbs., taken from different bags, or from different parts 
of the heap if stored in bulk. After a little experience, a well- 
ground cement may readily be recognized by the absence of 
grit when rubbed between the fingers. 

2. Expanding or Contracting in Setting. —When made up 
without sand or excess of water, and filled up level with the top 
of a glass or similar vessel, it should set hard without cracking 
the vessel, rising or sinking, or getting loose in it, or showing 
any signs of cracks in the cement itself. 

3. Strength.—When made up without sand, with as little 
water as possible, and filled into moulds, it should, after seven 
consecutive days in water, give an ultimate strength, under a 
tensile stress slowly applied, of 250 lbs. per square inch of frac¬ 
tured section, the immersion in water to commence as soon as 
the cement blocks will bear removing from the moulds, which 
should not exceed twenty-four hours after the moulds have been 
filled. 

When time will not admit of this test being applied, a very 
fair ide,a of the strength of the cement can be arrived at from 
its weight , which should not be less than 108 lbs. per imperial 
striked bushel, filled up as lightly as possible, by pouring the 
cement down an inclined board, or through a wooden hopper, 
about 1 foot square at top, 1 inch square at bottom, and 1 foot deep. 
The hopper should be suspended with the point of discharge 6 
inches above the top of the bushel measure, which should stand 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


121 


on a firm base and not on any vibrating floor, and should not be 
touched until the cement in it has been finally struck level with 
the top with a straight-edge. The cement weighed should be 
taken from different bags, or from different parts of the heap if 
stored in bulk. 

Rapidity of Set. —When made up into cakes about half an 
inch thick, without any sand or excess of water, the cement 
should set hard within 24 hours, either in or out of water, with¬ 
out showing any signs of cracks. 

Color. —The color of good Portland cement is a bluish-grey; 
if dark and earthy, or of too light a color, it is not to be trusted. 
When made up without sand and set hard, it should show the 
same bluish-grey color without any brown specks or stains. 

Explanatory Remarks. 

Fineness. —A high degree of fineness is necessary to the com¬ 
plete and simultaneous setting of all the particles throughout 
the mass. When insufficiently ground, the fine particles set 
first, then the coarser grit, and lastly the little hard lumps ; and 
it is this process going on, after the surrounding particles have 
already set hard, which often shows itself all over the surface 
by the “blowing” or bursting out of numberless pustules, or 
the cracking of the entire body of the cement. 

Some foreign cements allow of 85 per cent, passing through 
a No. 60 gauge, or 3,600 meshes per superficial inch ; but cements 
of such extreme fineness are under-burnt, and therefore weigh 
light, and are deficient in strength, though often rapid in setting. 
The wear and tear to the machinery in grinding well-burnt cem¬ 
ents to such extreme fineness would render them too costly to 
be marketable. 

» 

Expanding or Contracting in Setting. —The test for expansion 
or contraction in setting is very simple, and one which should 
on no account be omitted, for these are about the most serious 
defects to which Portland cements are liable, though for the 
most part no steps are taken to guard against them. 

Expansion in setting is due to the presence of free lime in the 
cement—owing either to more lime having been used in its man- 


122 


POWELL S FOUNDATIONS 


ufacture than can chemically combine with the clay—to imper¬ 
fect mixing of the lime with the clay, or to the burning not hav¬ 
ing been carried to a sufficient extent to enable the lime and clay 
to combine together. 

Contraction in setting, which is not nearly so often met with, 
is due to an excess of clay, and, as there is no remedy for this 
evil, the cement must be rejected. 

The tendency to expand in setting is a very common fault in 
fresh-ground cements, especially those of the heaviest and strong¬ 
est descriptions, owing to the large proportion of lime used in 
their manufacture, which, if in excess, as already explained—or 
even locally in excess, owing to imperfect mixing—is present in 
the cement in the form of free lime, which heats and expands 
considerably in the process of slaking. However, if the cement 
is otherwise good, this evil can be remedied by spreading it out 
on a dry floor, under cover, and turning it over occasionally, to 
allow of its air slaking or “cooling.” 

“When delivered on the works for use, Portland cement should 
always be shot from the bags on to a wooden floor—to a depth 
not exceeding 4 feet—and be permitted to remain at least three 
weeks before it is allowed to be used for any purpose. While 
so kept, fresh Portland cement increases considerably in bulk— 
probably 10 per cent.—without any diminution of its strength ; 
so that it should be to the advantage of a contractor to store his 
cement before using it, even if he were not required to do so by 
the engineer. I can hardly impress too strongly upon you the 
importance of avoiding the use of fresh cement for any purpose 
whatever.” 

Many a good, strong cement which, when first delivered, would 
heat in mixing and expand in setting, would, after exposure to 
the air for a time, stand the test for expansion perfectly. 

Tests of Cements. —F. O. Norton, Civil Engineer, who has 
made a large number of experiments on American cements, has 
obtained a class of comparative results, which gives a clear 
knowledge of the magnesian limestone. The principal deposit 
of the magnesian limestone producing a cement possessing hy¬ 
draulic energy, occurs in the town of Rosendale, Ulster Co., 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


123 


New York. The following tests were made at the works at 
Binnewater, during the season of 1878, commencing in April 
and continued for eight months. 

Several times each day a number of briquettes were made of 
the cement manufactured that day. The briquettes were mixed in 
two ways—in one the cement was mixed with water to form an 
ordinary stiff mortar, which was pressed in the moulds and 
smoothed off: for the other a very dry mixture was made. 
Both mixtures were left in the moulds a few minutes, and were 
then pressed out with a wooden plunger, and left in the air 
thirty minutes. They were then put in water and left in water 
until broken. 5824 briquettes were made and broken during 
the eight months. 


RESULT OF TESTS. 


Tensile strength per square inch , represented in pounds on 5824 Briquettes. 



15 

days 

1 

mo. 

2 

mo. 

3 

mo. 

4 

mo. 

5 

mo. 

6 

mo. 

7 

mo. 

8 

mo. 

mo. 

10 

mo. 

11 

mo. 

12 

mo. 

1878. 

Stiff Mortar,. 

65 

170 

265 

385 

395 

425 

440 

454 

475 

465 

470 

465 

464 

tt 

Dry Mixture,. 

150 

230 

300 

350 

380 

405 

410 

415 

415 

415 

405 

405 

405 

1879. 

Stiff Mortar, -... 

125 

250 

380 

460 

500 

520 

530 








The briquettes were shaped like a dumb-bell the breaking area 
being one inch square. 

Rosendale cements of the best qualities develope great hy¬ 
draulic strength in twenty-four hours, being at that time equal to 
Portland cement. The Portland cement gains rapidly up to 
seven days, at the end of a month the Rosendale approaches 
the Portland and the difference between the two is changed after 
that time. 

For practical purposes all cements are generally used with a 
mixture of sands. This reduction of strength in round num¬ 
bers is as follows: 


1 part of sand gives mortar 1-2 as strong as pure cement. 


2 

u 

u 

u 

u 

1-2 

u 

u 

u 

3 

u 

u 

u 

a 

1-4 

u 

u 

u 

4 

u 

u 

u 

u 

1-5 

u 

u 

u 

5 

u 

u 

a 

u 

1-6 

u 

a 

u 


The following Tests of Cements were made in the months 
of Jan., Feb. and March of 1882. 



































powell’s foundations 


I2'4 


THESE TESTS WERE MADE IN NEW YORK. 


Brand. 

bo 

2 

Time. 

Dry. 

Wet. 

Time. 

Dry. 

4-3 

£ 

Time. 

Dry. 

Wet. 

Time. 

Dry. 

Wet. 

Tensile strain 
of lbs. per 
square inch. ' 

CC 

r— < 
•r* 

a 


Remarks. 

Swedish, 

it 

24 h. 

80 72 

7 days 

194 

190 

14d’ys 

2571160 

21days 

304 

306 

Imported is 

Giliingham, 

it 

24 h. 

78 92 


329 

240 


308 448 


390 

424 

very good. 

Burham, 

a 


50 

62 


318 

386 


220;200 


2781292 


Dvekerhoff, 

n 


70 80 


262 

204 


230i240 


217 

235 


Delafieid, 

n 


56 48 


128 

118 


214 

205 


280 

200 

The longer 

Laurenceville, 

u 


50 36 


72 

56 


138 

130 


85 

60 

it stands the 

Rock Lock, 

a 


80 

32 


233 

47 


206 

f’il 


210 

78 

better it is. 

Connelly & Scheffer, 



40 24 


80 

70 


98 

101 


95 

461 



All these cements are in use in the city of New York. Small 
moulded pieces of cement of the form of a dumb-bell were cast 
with the middle part i inch square. Each one of these forms 
were tested separately on scales made for testing building ma¬ 
terials. 

Hydraulic Limes and Cements. —If limes harden under 
water in from fifteen to twenty days after immersion, they are 
slightly hydraulic ; if from six to eight days, simply hydraulic, 
and from one to four days, eminently hydraulic. Hydraulic 
limes if not properly slacked, will sometimes burst. It should 
all be hydrated before placing, which will require more time than 
ordinary lime. The different kinds act differently. There is 
but little heat developed in these limes while slacking. 

The hydraulic lime of Tiel, manufactured in France, and im¬ 
ported to this country in barrels of from 450 to 600 pounds, is 
extensively used, and considered a very strong cement. It will 
set firmly in eighteen to twenty-four hours under water, and in¬ 
creases in tensile strength from 40 to 160 pounds per square 
inch, and the crushing weight from 200 to 600 pounds per square 
inch. It weighs from 40 to 45 pounds per cubic foot. The 
slacking of 100 pounds of Tiel lime requires 28 pounds of water. 

• » 

For Salt-Water Mortars, Concrete under water. —One part 

of Tiel lime to two parts of sand. 

For Mortars Exposed to Air.— One part lime, three parts 
sand. 














































AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


125 


To form Betons and Concrete from the Mortars before men¬ 
tioned. — Salt- Water Concretes .—Two measures of mortar, thor- 

oughly mixed with three of broken stone. 

* , / 

Fresh- Water Concretes .—One measure of mortar to two of 
broken stone. 

Artificial Blocks .—One measure of mortar to two of pebbles. 

Portland Cement is made of argillaceous limestones selected 
for the purpose, or argillaceous chalk or calcerous clays, or 
mixtures of artificial carbonate of lime or clay, and artificial 
mixtures of caustic limes and clay. 

It is burned in kilns with a heat of sufficient duration and in¬ 
tensity to produce the beginning of vitrifaction. After this the 
product is ground to powder. There should be from seventy to 
eighty per cent, carbonate of lime, and twenty to twenty-five per 
cent, of clay, and not less than ninety to ninety-five per cent, of 
the lime and clay required for a first quality cement. Hard car¬ 
bonates of lime are expensive to reduce to powder, yet hard 
limestones may be used. Suitable clay is of more rare occur¬ 
rence than suitable limestone, for the reason the former must 
contain alumina and silica, not only in certain proportions but 
in a certain state of pulverization. 

For foundation walls on damp and yielding soils, also for sub¬ 
marine masonry, Portland cement concrete is superior to brick¬ 
work in strength, durability and economy. It is also well suited 
for sewers, piers, abutments, pavements, etc. A barrel weighs 
about 400 pounds, and has a tensile strength of 250 pounds per 
square inch, and safely sustains, after seven days set, 470 pounds 
per square inch. 

Concrete or Beton is a mixture of lime, sand and gravel or 
broken stone, or hard-burned broken brick. When cement is 
used instead of lime, it is known as a cement concrete. 

The object to be attained in making hydraulic concrete is to 
give such a sufficiency of mortar as will produce the aggre¬ 
gation of the whole mass of rough rubble materials. 

When Portland cement is used, one part of cement may be 
used to three parts of sand, and this may be mixed with six 
parts of gravel, stone, spalls or broken bricks. 


126 


powell’s foundations 


For Tiel lime, lime three parts, sand five parts, two parts 
broken stone. This is at it was used at the mole in Marseilles. 

The French Beton Agglomere.— Cement in blocks consists of 
180 parts of sand, 44 parts of lime slacked, 33 parts of Portland 
cement, and 20 parts of water. This is most thoroughly incor¬ 
porated. 

Yicat Cement. —This artificial cement sets strongly in from 
eight to fifteen hours, and is able to stand great cold. Vicat 
mortar, of one part of cement to three parts of sand, when four¬ 
teen days old, sustained safely a pressure of 300 pounds per 
square inch. 

Lafarge Cement —Weighs sixty-six pounds per cubic foot. 
Begins setting after three to three and a half hours ; completes 
its setting in twelve to eighteen hours. 

Made into Mortar .—One part cement to two parts sand. Af¬ 
ter eight days setting, its tensile strength was found to be 142 
pounds per square inch. 

Made into Mortar .—One part cement, three parts sand. After 
three days setting, did not crush until loaded with 81 pounds 
per square inch. The same mixture, 


After 13 days. .540 pounds square inch, crushing load. 

44 33 44 ...942 44 44 44 44 44 

u 43 u .1049 44 44 44 44 44 


In practice it would be safe to use a working load to the above 
of one-quarter of the crushing load. 

The resistance to rupture after twenty days exposed to the 
air, is about 54 pounds per square inch ; with equal proportions 
of sand and cement it falls to 27 pounds. 

American and Foreign Cements.— 


American Rosemlale.from 60 to 70 pounds cubic foot. 

English Portland. 44 95 to 102 44 44 44 

And in barrels. 44 400 to 430 44 to barrel. 

French Portland. 44 95 to 105 44 cubic foot. 

Lafarge. 44 66 to 70 44 44 44 

Tiel Lime. 44 52 to 58 44 44 44 











AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 1 27 

The following cements were made into small blocks, four 
inches square by one inch thick, and they set as follows: 


Statine, French Cement. 15 minutes. 

Pomeranium, German. 13 u 

K and S Portland, imported.. 11 44 

White’s ‘ 4 44 . 7 1-2 44 


Rosendale, U. S. 30 to 45 44 

They were tested by tapping them with a piece of wood, the 
size of a common clothes-line pin; when no impression was 
made, they were said to have set. 

Keene’s Cement. —An imported cement, is used extensively 
for interior decorations, artificial marble cornices and center- 
pieces. The superfine is of a delicate white, takes a high pol¬ 
ish, and makes beautiful scagiola-work. There is a medium 
quality used for the same purpose, and used in artificial marbles. 
The coarse is used for stucco, and has great durability; also for 
floors to halls, areas, passages, vestibules, churches, etc. It is 
less expensive than Portland cement. One cask contains four 
bushels, which, mixed in the proportion of one part cement, 
and two parts sand, will cover about fifteen superficial yards 
one-half inch thick. 

For Polished Work of* Walls. —Use the floating coat of equal 
parts Keene’s coarse cement and sand; the setting coat to be of 
superfine one-quarter inch thick. 

For Stucco on Brickwork. —For floating coat, one part cem¬ 
ent, and two parts sand. The setting coat should be three- 
sixteenths inch thick. 

Where it is required to lay a coat of cement over a floor sur¬ 
face, one barrel of Portland cement, weighing about 400 pounds, 
if used neat, will cover five square yards of surface one inch 
thick; and when mixing, if there is added two parts of sand, it 
will cover fifteen square yards of surface one inch thick. 

Rosendale Cement Concrete. —One barrel Rosendale cement, 
(300 pounds weight, 75 pounds per bushel;) three barrels of 
sharp, gritty and damp sand; five barrels of broken stone; will 
sustain a load of 40 pounds square inch when set. 

Portland Cement Concrete. —One barrel of Portland cement, 
(400 pounds, say five cubic feet;) one barrel of Thomaston lime, 
eight barrels of sand, twelve barrels of broken stone; will sus¬ 
tain a load of 50 pounds per square inch when set. 







I 28 


powell’s foundations 


Rosendale cement weighs about 75 pounds per bushel; Port¬ 
land cement will average 116 pounds per bushel, when 90 per 
cent. fine. Dark cement appears to be the strongest. Fine 
quality cements are now manufactured in many parts of the 
United States. The best are from Rosendale cements of New 
York and New Jersey; Cumberland, Maryland ; Round Top, Han¬ 
cock, in Maryland; Sandusky, Ohio; and Shepherdstown, Vir¬ 
ginia. 

Nearly all hydraulic limes and cements, after being packed in 
barrels, will lose their energy by exposure or age. 

The imported Boulogne Portland cement, after getting a 
permanent set, will sustain a load of 1000 pounds per square 
inch. Its tensile strength, is 340 pounds per square inch. It is 
most desirable for strong masonry, wharves, piers, founda¬ 
tions, sewers, etc., and concrete sidewalks. It takes several 
hours to set. 

For Mortar of Great Strength —One part Boulogne cement, 
five parts coarse sand. 

Selenitic Lime or Cement —Is prepared by mixing and grind¬ 
ing together unslacked high-degree hydraulic lime and calcined 
piaster of paris, in the proportion of ninety per cent, lime and 
ten per cent, plaster of paris. When made into mortar with 
sand it sets quickly and firmly, and can be used for concrete of 
mason’s work; is durable and very firm and strong. The only 
selenitic process cement used in this country is the Howe’s Cave 
cement, New York. 

P'or certain purposes the natural light cements, and those 
manufactured in the United States, possess sufficient strength 
for the purposes to which they are applied: For massive con¬ 
crete foundations and walls, for the backing of thick walls faced 
with ashlar, and for giving hydraulic energy to mortar for stone 
and brick masonry, there are several high grades of Portland, New 
York and Pennsylvania, equal to those imported from Europe. 

Cement Mortar for Brick-laying. —One part cement, two 
parts sand. For Stone-work , ordinary —One part cement, three 
parts sand. 

Mortar of Cement. —One barrel of cement, say 300 pounds, 
two barrels of sand, one-half barrel of water, will make say eight 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


I2Q 


cubic feet of mortar, and will lay 500 bricks, or one cubic yard 
of rubble stone-work. Three or four more parts of sand may be 
added, according to quality of work. 

Cement Mortar for Stone Masonry — i. e., Cut or Squared Ma¬ 
son Work .—One cask of cement, say 300 pounds, ninety per 
cent, fine; one-half cask lime, Tlwmaston; fifteen cubic feet of 
sand. 

The mixing of lime with cement makes the cement set slower, 
and is also cheaper. 

Cement Mortar for Brick Masonry. —One cask of cement, one- 
half cask of lime, four cubic feet paste, and ten cubic feet of 
sand. 

Where cements are used on masonry of railroad work, the 
proportion of mortar is one-third of cement to two-thirds of 
sand, and sometimes lime is added. 

Ordinary Concrete. —One part cement, one part lime, two 
parts sand, and four parts granite spalls or shingle. 

Brickdnst Cement Concrete. —One measure or part of new 
lime, one and one-quarter measures of part brick or tile dust, 
one and one-quarter measures of parts of sand, five measures or 
parts of broken stone, and water. 

Lime and Cement Concrete. —One-half bushel cement, three- 
eighths bushel lime, two-bushels sand, four bushels broken stone, 
and three-eighths bushel water. 

Lime should always be slacked a day or two before mixing 
the concrete. 

TABULAR STATEMENT OF TESTS MADE ON HYDRAULIC 
AND OTHER CEMENTS AT THE CENTENNIAL 
EXHIBITION, PHILADELPHIA. 

All these cements were tested by mixing them dry, in every 
case with equal quantity of clean sand, tempering it to the con¬ 
sistency of stiff mason’s mortar. Then they were moulded into 


130 


powell’s foundations 


small bricks, equal to two and one-quarter square inches of sur¬ 
face, allowed one day to set in the air, and placed in water for 
six days. After a number of trials on each, the result was divided 
by two and one-quarter to get the load on each square inch. 


CEMENTS. 

Crushing 
strength per 
square inch. 

Tensile 
strength per 
square inch 

Stettin, German, Portland Cement. 

1,436 

206 

Rollick's Portland, London, England. 

1,300 

212 

Wouldhan’s “ “ “ . 

1,150 

200 

Saylor’s Portland, Allentown, Penn., U. S. 

1,078 

184 

Portland Wampum, New Castle, Penn., U. S. 

968 

168 

Pavin de Lafarge, Tiel, France. 

A. H. Lavers’, London, Eng., Portland. 

931 

158 

926 

192 

Francis, Portland. 

907 

163 

Me Kay, Ottawa, Canada.• • • •. 

Delfzyl, Netherlands. 

882 

141 

826 

132 

Longuety & Co., France. 

764 

108 

Riga Cement Co., Riga, Russia. 

693 

134 

Scanian, Sweden. 

Estland, Russia. 

606 

112 

580 

154 

ROMAN AND. OTHER CEMENTS. 

Coplay Hydraulic, Pennsylvania, U. S. 

292 

38 

Manlius, New York, U. S. 

276 

47 

Seigfried Bridge, Pennsylvania, U. S. 

276 

43 

Gauvream, Quebec, Canada . 

234 

47 

Riga, Russia. 

230 

44 

Cumberland Hydraulic Cement Co., Maryl'd, U. S. 

200 

42 

Societe Anonyme, France.. 

184 

29 

Anchor Cement, Allentown, Penn., IT. S. 

201 

42 

Howe’s Cave Association, New York, U. S. 

Societa Anonima, Emelia, Italy. 

184 

42 

180 

27 

Gowdy, Ontario, Canada.. 

126 

24 

Lavers, London, Eng. 

122 

25 


There would naturally occur many reasons for the above tests 
being variable, owing to the selection-of cement for the test, 
and exposure to the heat of the sun, etc. Most of the above 
data was obtained from nine to twelve tests on each kind of cem¬ 
ent. Thirty-three per cent, of the test would give a fair work¬ 
ing load for foreign cements, and forty per cent, for the United 
States, as every year great improvement is being made in the 
manufactures of all grades of cement in this country; and the 
tests are open to such criticism, owing to competition and use 
here, that they may be relied upon. 

When Portland cements are made into blocks without sand 
and filled in moulds, and turned out after twenty-four hours, 
they may then be immersed in water, and at the expiration of 

































AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


131 

eight days they will give a tensile strain, slowly applied, of 250 
lbs. to the square inch. 

On Cements, —Mr. F. Collingwood, Civil Engineer, has made 
a number of exhaustive experiments at the East River Bridge, 
N. Y., on cements. He states, that in mixing water with 
cement, the quantity of water used was limited to produce the 
best result. This varied with every lot of cement, even from 
the same maker. That which in one case would make a clean, 
hard briquette, would in another not give any coherence when 
rammed. The percentage of water is given in the annexed 
table, this was sufficient to make the mass slightly moist; after 
this it was rammed in the moulds. About one-half more water 
would, in each case, give a mortar of the right consistency for 
use. The sieve used had 2500 meshes per square inch. There 
were forty individual tests : ten tests for twenty-four hours, ten 
for seven days, ten for fourteen days, and ten at twenty-one 
days’ setting; the briquettes being made at the same time and 
from the same barrel. The briquettes were 2x11-2 in the break¬ 
ing section, with ends enlarged to fit the clamps in the testing 
machine. In compression a portion of the same specimen was 
crushed, the size was 2x2 x 1 1-2. The twenty-four hour tests 
are no criterion as to the ultimate strength of cements. Further 
tests were made to compare brick for tensile and compressive 
strains, but it is stated they were not very satisfactory ; yet 
here is the result. 

Haverstraw brick were used, not the hardest. ♦ 

Of whole bricks, 10 tests, set on end, compression averaged 2,065 lbs. per square inch. 
10 half bricks oh side, “ “ 4,612 “ “ “ “ 

10 “ “ flat, “ “ 3,371 “ “ “ “ 

These tests seem to compare favorably with a table of tests 
also made in New York, see page 81. Twelve bricks were 
carefully cut to fit the cement-testing machine. The tensile 
strength averaged ninety pounds per square inch. All of these 
experiments when they are properly done, give the preference to 
well and carefully laid full size, hard-burned brick over cement. 


132 


powell’s foundations 


COLLINGSWOOD ON CEMENTS. 

CEMENT TESTS; EAST RIVER BRIDGE—NEW YORK. 



Air Tension. 

' 

Air 

Compression. 

Water 

Tension. 

Water 

Compression. 

Fineness. 

Water, pr. ct. 


Time. 

Days. 

Time. 

Days. 

Time. 

Days. 

Time. 

Days. 



17 14 21 

1 

7 14 21 

1 

7 14 21 

1 7 14 21 


Saylor’s Portland, 

“ Excelsior, 

Coolidge Portland, 
Newark Lime & 
Cement Co., 
Lawrence viUe, 
Ramsey, 

N. Y. & Iiosendale, 
F. O. Norton, 
Round Top, 

115 205 216 21S 
111 110 156 187 

67 80 97 97 
91 119 137 208 
39 60 7» 60 
57 99109153 
65 148 151 180 
79 123 102 159 

1168 1803 17001747 
1405 1770 

115 1042 790 1448 
770 9001266 2226 
180 532 656 902 
397 900 693 1330 
592 1902 1S75 1887 
606 7551094 2495 

80 174 191 250 
19 94 142 161 

77 192 197 227 
22 76 71 78 
65 65 79108 
29 39 37 25 
48 53 58 82 
58 75 104121 
74 72 83 94 

1146 1698 1621 2025 
210 95012551275 

840 2365 2448 3377 
400 882 640 1014 
555 475 957 1767 
135 455 358 286 
305 374 332 1275 
713 1487 1275 1562 
620 480 889 2115 

96 18 to 23 
98 25 

90 25 to 30 
98 25 

90 25 to 30 
89 28 

81 23 

97 25 

87 22 


Roman Cement. —Slacked lime one bushel, green copperas 
three and one-half pounds, fine gravel sand one-half bushel. 
Dissolve the copperas in hot water, and mix all together to 
the proper consistency for use ; use the day it is mixed and 
keep stirring it with a stick while in use. 

Yicat’s Hydraulic Cement —Is prepared by stirring into water 
a mixture of four parts chalk and one part clay ; mix with a ver¬ 
tical wheel in a circular trough, letting it run out in a large re¬ 
ceiver. A deposit soon takes place which is formed into small 
bricks, which after being dried in the sun are moderately cal¬ 
cined. It enlarges about two-thirds when mixed with water. 

Hydraulic Cement. —Powdered clay three pounds, oxide of 
iron one pound ; and boiled oil to form a stiff paste. 

Stone Cement. —River sand twenty parts, litharge two parts, 
quick-lime one part ; mixed with linseed-oil. 

Glue. —Powdered chalk added to common glue strengthens it. 
A glue which will resist the action of water is made by boiling 
one lb. of glue in two quarts of skimmed milk. 

Cement Mortar. —If one measure (slightly compacted by shak¬ 
ing,) of ground cement be mixed with about one-third of a 
measure of water, it forms about two-thirds of a measure of 
paste fit for mortar. Perfectly fresh cements require a little 






























AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


133 


more water than old, and cements differ among themselves as 
to the proper quantity of water. If sand is to be added, more 
water will of course be needed, but this should be added in very 
small quantities as the mixing or tempering goes on, inasmuch 
as a much less quantity is required than would at first sight be 
supposed. So also on the addition of lime, as before remarked, 
the pure cement is stronger without any addition whatever of 
•either lime or sand ; still it will be quite strong enough for most or¬ 
dinary purposes, especially when not exposed to water, even with 
a considerable addition of both. But if it is to be exposed to ab¬ 
solute contact with water, lime should be added but sparingly, if 
at all in the outer joints. When the sand is in the proportion 
of one or more measures to one of cement, the bulk of mixed 
mortar will be about equal to, or a trifle less than that of the 
dry sand alone. 

The cement mortar of the Croton Aqueduct of New York, 
was as follows : for the brick inside lining of the aqueduct, on£ 
measure cement powder, two measures sand; for the stone 
backing, one measure cement powder, three measures sand. 

When mortar is to be exposed to dampness only, we may use 
cement, one ; quick-lime, one ; sand, four to six parts. The lime 
should be thoroughly slacked before it is added. 

Quantity Required. —A barrel of cement, 300 pounds and 2 
barrels of sand (6 bushels or 7 1-2 cubic feet), mixed with about 
1-2 a barrel of water, will make about eight cubic feet of mor¬ 
tar sufficient for: 


192 

square 

feet of mortar 

joints 

1-2 

inch 

thick, 

288 

<< 

if << 

a 

3-8 

u 

a 

384 

u 

if ff 

u 

i -4 

u 

a 

768 

(< 

u it 

<( 

1-8 

if 

a 


Or, to lay 1 cubic yard, or 522 bricks of 8 1-4 by 4 by 2 inches, 
with joints 3-8 inch thick ; or a cubic yard of roughly scabbled 
rubble stone work. The quantity of sand may be increased 
however, to 3 or 4 measures for ordinary work. 

Concrete is merely a coarse mortar of lime, sand and gravel 
or broken stone. Engineers generally apply to it the French 
name of Beton when cement is used, instead of common lime. 
When first mixed and deposited, the concrete occupies consider- 


134 


powell’s foundations 


ably less bulk than that of its dry materials ; but in setting it 
swells permanently about 1-30 part of its thickness. This last 
property has been supposed to render it peculiarly valuable for 
underpinning; but as it also renders the concrete porous and 
friable, the argument has but little force. 

A common proportion among English engineers is I measure 
of ground quick-lime, 1 1-2 of water, and 6 to 8 of gravel. Brok¬ 
en stone is often added, and still better, fragments of brick. 
Every 1 1-4 cubic yards of gravel makes about 1 cubic yard of 
concrete. In using concrete, the entire width of the foundation 
trench should be filled with it and it should be well rammed in 
layers about a foot thick, as it is deposited. 

Gen. Totten, in his work on mortars, gives the following 
formula for cement concrete, which he used with perfect success 
where “springs of water flowed over the work continually, and 
were allowed to cover each days work. The next morning the 
concrete was always found hard and perfectly set.” It was ram¬ 
med as it was deposited. When not to be rammed he would 
somewhat increase the proportions of all the ingredients except 
the stone fragments, to insure the filling of all the voids between 
these last. 

1 1-3 measures of good Rosendale cement powder, 

2 measures of sand, 

4 “ “ granite fragments of nearly uniform size and 

about 5 ounces weights, 

1-2 measure of water nearly. 

These gave a little more than 4 measures of concrete, or 
about the same as the granite fragment alone; and each barrel 
of cement (300 lbs., or 3 packed bushels) made 16 7-10 cub. ft., 
or nearly .62 cub. yards of concrete: or a cub. yd. of the con¬ 
crete required 1.61 barrels of cement. The General adds that 
if one-half of the cement had been omitted, and its place sup¬ 
plied by quick-lime in about the following proportion, the work 
would still have been very hydraulic, and very strong: 

.6 measures of cement, 

.4 “ “ quick-lime, 

2.0 “ “ sand, 

4.0 “ “ granite fragments, 

.5 “ “ water nearly. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


135 


The 4 measures of quick-lime to be thoroughly slacked, be¬ 
fore being mixed. He also gives the following, as forming a 
very hard concrete, when rammed : 

I measure good Rosedale cement powder, 

I 1-4 “ sand, 

3 “ clean gravel, 

33 per cent, water. 

Another rammed concrete “became very hard, but was rather 
too incohesive while fresh, to make the best factitious stone.” 

1 meas. good Rosendale, Norton’s and Saylors’ cement powder, 

2 measures sand, 

3 “ clean gravel, 

3-8 n (about,) water. 

The concrete used on the Croton Aqueduct, New York, con¬ 
sists of 

1 meas. good New York cement powder, 

3 “ clean sand, 

3 “ hard stone, broken to pass through a ring 
1 1-2 ins. diam. 

A very good concrete is composed of 

1 measure cement powder, 

1 1-2 “ clean sand, 

23-4 “ gravel, 

0.35 (about,) water. 

These 5 1-2 measures give about 4 1-2 of concrete. 

The following brick-dust hydraulic concrete has been used 
with success in some important French works : 

1 measure quick-lime slightly hydraulic, 

1 1-4 “ brick, or tile dust, 

I 1-4 “ sand, 

5 “ (nearly), broken stone. 

These 8 1-2 measures gave about 5 1-2 of concrete. This 
concrete was impervious to water. 

Coignet’s beton. The artificial stone which bears this engi¬ 
neer’s name has for several years been used in France with per¬ 
fect success not only for dwellings, depots, large city sewers, 


136 


powell’s foundations 


etc., but for piers, and arches. It is composed of 5 measures 
of sand, 7 measures of finely ground quick-lime, from 1-4 to 1-2 
measures of ground Portland cement, (or 6 parts of sand may 
be used.) These are first well mixed together dry ; and then 
placed in a grinding mill, at the same time sprinkling them with 
a very small quantity of water so as to moisten them without 
wetting them. They are then thoroughly incorporated by 
grinding until they form a tough or stiff mass. \ It is then put 
in moulds and compacted with a 1 ( 5 -lb. hammer: slow settling 
cement is the best; the blocks or slabs will set in from a few 
hours to a day or more, this depends on the size of blocks that 
are made. It may be used for foundation walls, piers and arches 
—and where extra strong construction is required and it is not 
convenient, or is too expensive to use stone ; where there is 
considerable of this to be done it will not cost more than one- 
half as much as stone. 

Test to show the purity of Portland Cement. 

In order to discover whether cement has been adulterated, 
with blast-furnace slag:—Take 80 grains (Troy weight) of the 
suspected cement and put into a glass vessel or graduate con¬ 
taining 775 grains of dilute muriatic acid (containing one part 
of pure acid to four parts of water); the mixture should be well 
stirred with a glass rod. 

Pure cement is not rendered turbid or thick by this treat¬ 
ment. If on the contrary the liquid turns milky, from the pres¬ 
ence of sulphur in suspension, while at the same time the yel¬ 
lowish tinge disappears and a strong smell of sulphuretted hy¬ 
drogen becomes perceptible this is an indication that cinders 
have been added. The presence of ground limestone, or chalk 
may be detected in a similar manner by the occurrence of ebul¬ 
lition at the time when the liquid acid is added to the cement. 
1 he quantity of adulterated materials, may be approximately 
found by the amount of ebullition or air bubbles. 

Pure Portland cement does not effervesce upon the addition 
of acid ; because it does not contain the carbonate of lime, but 
is composed chiefly of Lime, Silica, ALimnia, Oxide of Iron, 
Sulphuric Acid and water. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


137 


The proportion of these ingredients vary in samples from dif¬ 
ferent localities ; but lime is always about 60 per cent, of the 
whole, the remainder is composed of the above named ingredi¬ 
ents ; sulphate of lime should not exceed one per cent. The 
greatest value is attached in Germany to the presence of mag¬ 
nesia: English and French cements seldom contain one per 
cent, of this substance, but the proportion rises to 3 per cent, 
.in some German cements. 

The most essential points in the manufacture of cements, 
apart from the tests ; are uniformity of mixing, and burning, 
and fine grindings ; without this the material is valueless. 

If there is too much sulphate of magnesia in the preparation 
it will precipitate on the surface of walls, and leave that discol¬ 
oration so objectionable where it is the intention to retain the 
color of the brick. 

Street Pavements. —In England about 1842 many wooden 
pavements were laid in every style. The roadways were pre¬ 
pared with sand surfaces, boards laid flat on the surface, and 
lumber or timber, cut at all angles, with cross-pieces set in. 
Then again tarred boards were set on edge, and round chest¬ 
nut and other varieties of woods set on edge, and turned and 
squared. Planked roads of every variety were made in certain 
localities. Ten years after most of these had worn out, and 
been renewed, or they had disappeared. But now the wood is 
prepared with salts of lime, iron, copper, etc., and coated with 
asphaltum, and in some localities in London they seem to have 
come into use again. 

Wooden pavements, that were laid of the various patents in 
New York City have nearly all disappeared. The best appeared 
to be those coated with asphalt, and set on edge on a wooden 
board surface, leaving spaces that were filled with gravel. The 
heavy traffic and wear from the large trucks in New York soon 
destroys the surface, and keeps the streets in an almost impas- 
^ble condition in winter. They have not been renewed in 
New York. In Elizabeth, N. J., and many other parts of New 
Jersey, where wooden pavements have been laid, they have 
lasted only from five to seven years. When they are partially 


138 powell’s foundations 

worn out the accumulation of water under them, with exposure 
to air, and sun, soon rots the the whole surface. 

A properly laid Macadamized pavement is decidedly superior, 
when properly done, to any wooden pavement. All round-wood 
pavements become uneven after the expiration of one or two 
years, and are as bad as an uneven cobble-stone roadway. 

Some wooden pavements laid in Boston, Mass., seem to have 
met with better success than in the States of New York and 
New Jersey. There the wooden blocks were set on edge on a 
sand bottom six inches deep. Wooden pavements laid of pine 
or spruce cost on an average $ 2.25 per square yard. 

The next kind of pavements that has been used extensively 
in suburban cities, and some in New York and Boston, are 
known as asphaltum or bituminous concrete pavements and 
sidewalks; but the severity of the climate here is such that the 
frost in winter breaks and injures them to such an extent that 
they are not considered a reliable pavement as far north as this, 
although the appearance and surface for walking is so desirable. 
They cost from $ 2.00 to $ 3.00 per square yard. 

Flag-stone sidewalks 4 feet in width are the best for village 
walks. They average from three to four inches thick. Of 
course if the width is greater it adds to the expense. 

Stone flagging 5 feet wide will average 65 cents per running 
foot of that width. 

Sidewalks with stone curbing, and laid with hard bricks in the 
various styles, may be laid successfully, where there is a tenden¬ 
cy for the frost to raise the surface, by providing a sand bottom 
of twelve inches in depth; and slushing the surface with a 
grouting of cement and lime. Roll the surface before it sets, 
and lay the brick in a grouting of cement. This can be done 
very fast by ordinary labor, and it has made most excellent 
work. Have a firm bottom. 

Macadamized Roadways —Are usually built by laying down 
eighteen inches of large stone, blended with fine sand or gravel 
and somewhat smaller stone six inches in depth. Then on this 
six inches of ordinary broken stone and gravel, each layer when 
placed being subjected to a heavy roller, water being freely used. 
On country roads water is dispensed with. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


139 


Artificial Stone Pavements or Sidewalks. —There are several 
varieties of these in the United States, but they do not seem to 
stand well when laid as far north as New York City or Boston. 
They are mostly made of Portland cement, and large sharp sand, 
in blocks from three to six inches in thickness, and from two to 
six feet square. The proper method is to lay them on a con¬ 
crete foundation. Porous material is the best for making con¬ 
crete, as it allows the cement to enter the pores; all stone and 
gravel should be wet before adding the cement. One of the 
best, pavements of this kind is the Schillinger artificial stone 
pavement, and costs an average of 20 cents per square foot. 
He also makes an asphaltum paving block, laid on concrete. 
The blocks are about four by twelve inches, and are not affected 
by the action of frost as ordinary asphaltum pavements are. 

New York City, Brooklyn, Jersey City and Newark use the 
following street pavements: 

Belgian Pavement. —This consists of stones, 5x6x6 inches, 
laid on a bed of sand six inches deep. These vary in size to 
4x8x10, set on edge. Cost about $3.50 per square yard. They 
are using on Vesey street, N. Y., a fine paving stone, a kind of 
moderately soft granite, from the vicinity of Richmond, Virgin¬ 
ia. Large quantities of paving stone come from New Jersey, 
known as Trap and Basalt stones. 

Guidet Pavement. —This consists of granite blocks, averaging 
12x5x8 inches, laid on six inches of concrete and six inches of 
sand. It is laid on Broadway, New York, and costs about $5.00 
per square yard. 

Sidewalks. —The sidewalks in New York City and Brooklyn 
are laid with blue-stone flagging of various thicknesses, and is 
brought from quarries convenient for transportation down the 
North River. Granite flags are sometimes used, averaging ten 
inches in thickness, and sometimes measure 8 feet by 15 feet. 
These require no curbing. The blue-stone costs about $3.00 
per square yard. 

In Baltimore, Boston and Philadelphia brick is chiefly used, 
cost varying to suit localities, say $1.20 per square yard. 

Concrete sidewalks are made of a mixture of tar and gravel; 


140 powell’s foundations 

and a concrete of asphaltum cement and gravel is also used, but 
they do not seem satisfactory for much travel, owing to the ac¬ 
tion of frost and ice in winter. 

Street pavements in Boston are usually of granite blocks, 4X 
7x8 inches, laid in from 8 to 12 inches of gravel or sand, and 
cost about $3.25 per square yard. 

In Buffalo and Rochester, Medina stone is used; the blocks 
vary from 2 to 4x8x8 inches, and are laid on 16 inches of sand> 
gravel or broken stone. They cost about $ 3.00 per square yard, 
and are very satisfactory. 

Method of Calculating Loads on Floors, etc.—Illustrations 44 
and 45 show a plan and elevation, representing piers and walls 
of a structure adjoining another building, or independent. Also 
show diagrams of loads supported on floors. The base stones 
are of ordinary size, and generally such sized base stones are 
used where the load is not important. In buildings that carry an 
actual load on each floor of say 160 pounds per square foot of floor 
surface it is best, where the bottom is firm, to lay two bases or 
footing stones, the first stone to average five feet square, and 
the second four feet six inches square, with a brick pier built on 
them, say three feet four inches square, bonded with four-inch 
flat stone—(blue-stone)—every two feet, and capped with a 
granite block, ten to twelve inches thick. 

It is important that all piers to support inside columns 
(whether of iron or wood) should have brick and mason-work done 
in the best manner, with equal joints, and allowed to dry in 
toward the center of pier before placing the weight of several 
stories on it, when the load comes direct on the piers. In ref¬ 
erence to the load of goods, materials, etc., in stores, after 
making a calculation of ten or twelve stores, the load in the 
stores on the first, second and third stories did not exceed 170 
pounds per square foot of surface, and above that the load would 
average from 90 to 100 pounds per square foot of surface. Al¬ 
low for load on roof for snow, etc., 90 pounds per square foot. 
In warehouses, such as for hardware, cottons, groceries, etc., 
the load averaged 260 pounds per square foot of surface. As a 
guide and a safe rule, the Building Department has, for this pur¬ 
pose, tables of the load on floors, which you will find on page 82. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


141 



Illustration 44- 


o 


























































142 


powell’s foundations 


The average sized piers used for store construction run as fol¬ 
lows : For four and five story buildings, where the business 
done is ordinary, piers average from three to three feet eight 
inches square, with base stones five feet to five feet eight inches 
square. Some double stores (fifty-feet front), lately built in 
New York, have a line of piers in the center, supporting iron 
columns. These piers are 2 ft. x 2 ft. 8 in. x io ft. high, with the 
first footing stone, 5 ft. 6 in. x 5 ft. x 16 in. thick; the second 
footing 4 ft. x 4 ft. 6 in. square, by 12 in. thick; these buildings 
are seven stories or 98 feet high. 

The footings and base stones to Stewart’s store, Tenth street, 
New York, did not average above six feet six inches square. 
This structure is about 130 feet high above the footings. The 
footings and base stones to the Western Union Telegraph 
Building, New York, average eight feet square and twelve inches 
thick, and some parts have inverted arches. This building is 
144 feet high from footing stone to top of main cornice, and 
above this is an iron roof three stories in height. The footings 
for the Morse Building, Nassau street, New York, are eight 
feet square, and the piers are five feet square. The walls aver¬ 
age three feet four inches thick to second floor. This building 
is 160 feet high. The Coal and Iron Exchange, Courtlandt 
street, is constructed on piers and inverted arches on the fronts 
facing the streets. 

In illustration 44, showing piers and walls, the method of 
calculating the load on floors by the square foot is shown by the 
diagram. The space from the wall to the center of the pier is 
figured 22 feet, and from one pier to the other, 15 feet. To ascer¬ 
tain the load sustained on the columns, and on each pier, multi¬ 
ply 15 by 22=330 square feet. This multiplied by a load of 250 
pounds per square foot will give a load on each floor, supported 
by column on pier, of 330 square feet, multiplied by 250 pounds 
per square foot, equals 82,500 pounds. This load is independent 
of the weight of materials required in the construction. 

Of course every floor has to be calculated, which sometimes 
shows an immense load resting on the piers. Where wooden 
girders are used, the piers are placed from ten to twelve feet 
from centers. When iron girders are used, the piers are usually 
from twelve to sixteen, eighteen or twenty feet on centers. 


AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


M3 




82500 LBS. LOAD 



ELEVATION 


1 

1 

J 



'if 


Illustration 45. 


























































144 


powell’s foundations 


The load on base stone should not exceed five and one-half tons 
per square foot of bearing surface on base stones of five feet 
square, which gives twenty-five square feet. All base stones in 
and about New York City for good construction have from six 
to eight inches of concrete for a bed. 

It is not unusual with a good foundation to load base stone 
to piers with from seven to eight tons per square foot of surface. 

Thickness of Walls for any Number of feet in Height. 

—See following table. 

When it is the intention to use stone-walls instead of brick, 
(broken-range work, or quarry-faced range,) add from four to 
eight inches to the thickness given for brick-walls in these 
tables. 


TABLE OF THE THICKNESS OF BRICK-WALLS 
FOR STORES, WAREHOUSES AND BUILDINGS THAT 
REQUIRE EXTRA STRENGTH. 


Total height 
of wall in ft. 
to be erected. 

Total length 
of wall in ft. 
to be built. 

Thickness in 
feet and 
inches. 

IOO 

150 

Ft., in. 

3 

IOO 

70 

2 8 

90 

150 

3 

90 

70 

2 6 

80 

150 

2 6 

80 

70 

2 6 

70 

150 

2 4 

70 

60 

2 4 

60 

175 

2 4 

60 

50 

2 

50 

160 

2 

50 

45 

20 

40 

150 

20 


60 

2 4 


55 

2 


45 

20 


35 

20 


30 

16 


One-twelfth or one-fourteenth of the height of each story is 
an average for the thickness of a wall. 








AND FOUNDATION WALLS. 


145 


TABLE OF TEE THICKNESS REQUIRED FOR BRICK-WALLS FOR STORES, 

RESIDENCES, ETC. 


Total height 
of wall in ft. 
to be erected. 

Total length 
of wall in ft. 
to be built. 

B'sement 
story in 
inches. 

First 
story in 
inches. 

Second 
story in 
inches. 

Third 
story in 
inches. 

Fourth 
story in 
inches. 

Fifth 
story in 
inches. 

Roof 

in 

inches. 

100 

100 to 125 

32 

24 

24 

20 

16 

16 

12 

100 

80 

28 

24 

20 

20 

16 

12 


100 

45 

20 

20 

16 

16 

16 

12 


90 

100 to 125 

32 

24 

20 

20 

16 

16 


90 

70 

24 

20 

20 

20 

16 

16 


90 

45 

20 

90 

20 

16 

16 

16 


SO 

100 to 125 

28~=c__ 

24 

20 

• 16 

16 

12 


80 

60 

20 

20 

16 

16 

16 

12 


80 

45 

20 

20 

16 

16 

12 

12 


70 

100 

24 

20 

16 

16 

16 


12 

70 

55 

20 

16 

16 

12 

12 


8 

70 

40 

20 

16 

16 

12 

12 


8 

60 

100 

20 

20 

16 

16 

12 


8 

60 

50 

20 

16 

12 

12 

8 


• • 

60 

30 

20 

16 

12 

12 

8 


• • 

50 

ICO 

20 

16 

16 

12 

• • 


• • 


In using the above tables for thickness of walls in Baltimore, 
Philadelphia, Washington, etc., the walls average more in pro¬ 
portion, owing to the brick being larger than in other parts of 
the United States. Use for eight-inch walls 8 3-4 inches ; for 
twelve-inch walls, 13 inches; for sixteen-inch walls, 17 1-2 
inches; for twenty-inch walls, 21 1-2 inches; for two-feet walls, 
26 inches, etc. 

Footings are twice the thickness of basement walls. 

All divisions on party walls between dwellings should be at 
least twelve inches. When the walls are eight inches the wood 
beams of floors for each side, cut through them. 

























THE ART OF PREPARING FOUNDATIONS, 


WITH PARTICULAR ILLUSTRATION OP THE 


“METHOD OF ISOLATED PIERS,” 

AS FOLLOWED IN CHICAGO. 

BY FREDERICK BAUMANN, ARCHITECT. 
Revised by G. T. POWELL, A. and C. E, 

WITH NINETEEN WOODCUTS. 


The art of constructing foundations comprises two distinct 
but interdependent parts : first, the art of treating the ground ; 
and second, the art of building the base. 

FIRST PART. 

The Art of Treating the Ground. —All ground from the nature 

of things, is compressible —will yield under pressure. This is 
owing to three different natural causes ; first, general compres¬ 
sibility of matter , which is so slight that in practice it causes no 
concern ; second, imperfect packing of the constituent pai'ts and 
incipient fluidity , which induces to study and care, though posi¬ 
tive artificial treatment be not needed ; third, semi-fluidity , 
which in most cases calls for positive artificial treatment. Ac¬ 
cordingly, I shall consider the different building-grounds under 
the head of three distinct classes : solid grounds, compressible 
gi'ounds , semifluid grounds. 

Class I.—Solid Grounds.— This class comprises rock , gravel , 
dry sand , in their natural beds, and of sufficient thickness of 
strata. The treatment is very simple, and in most cases alike. 
Excavations must be made to remove loose deposits and expose 



ISOLATED PIERS. 


147 


the natural bed. Surfaces must be made level , because bases 
should not be started upon inclined planes. In this manner the 
most common engineering routine will ever attain good results 
as to foundations. The ground being, for all ordinary practical 
purposes, next to incompressible, differences in the weights of 
the various parts of the superstructure produce no manifest de¬ 
lects. Neither is there any considerable manifestation of piers 
or corners deviating from the line of the perpendicular, though, 
perchance, such piers or corners were not centrally supported. 
Concrete or no concrete, inverted arches or no inverted arches, 
random work or work rightly considered , the result is practically 
ever the same; the slight deviations from the true lines, which 
may occur, pass unnoticed ; the builder has nought to think on 
the subject ; his common every-day routine suffices him in all 
his cases, and he remains in ignorance as to the proper princi¬ 
ples by which the true art of preparing foundations is governed. 
Their practice was upon ground of the first class, which prevails 
in most of the large cities of the country, and taught them noth¬ 
ing to the point ; nor could they avail themselves of the experi¬ 
ence of others, inasmuch as, beyond this present treatise, there 
is (as far as at present known) nothing in print even pretending 
to give information. The evolution of the “method of isolated 
piers” is but the result of modern wants as to the construction 
of mercantile buildings. 

Class IX. — Compressible Grounds. — This class comprises 
clay and watery sand, and mixtures of the two, a whole scale of 
grounds, from the border of the first class downward to semi-flu- 
idity. The successful erection of any ordinarily heavy structure 
upon such ground involves the consistent application of two 
well known (and often, though loosely mentioned) principles : 
first , the areas of base must be in proportion to the superincum¬ 
bent loads; second , the centers of these areas of base must coincide 
with the axis of their loads. 

These principles are self-evident, well known, and often loose¬ 
ly mentioned, yet so seldom observed. It is indeed, needless to 
prove that ten square feet of bearing surface, ceeteris paribus, 
will bear more weight than will two square feet, or four, or nine. 
It is superfluous to specially make clear the fallacy of placing 


148 


baumann’s foundations 


che axis of any load upon or near the edge of a base, or in any 
measure away from its very center. The natural result of such 
foolish proceedings would be that, as the ground yields, the 
base assumes an inclined position, and the axis, which must re¬ 
tain its original angle with the base, is thrust out of its perpen¬ 
dicular line, as represented by Fig. 1. It is not then these 



simple principles that will occupy me ; it is rather their varied 
and manifold application in the practice of this difficult “art of 
building ,” in which economy , rightly understood, is a principal 
factor, nay, in fact, the factor, which really renders it a science, 
which can only be attained by one who has acquired a manifold 
experience, and who previously has had such a discipline of 
mind as to enable him to systematically collect, and assimilate 
with himself, the mental fruits of his labors. 

First Rule. —Resolve the buildings upon its ground plan of the 
lower story , into isolated parts, and independently apportion to each 
its proper share of foundation . The first part of this is of old 
standing, and often applied in exceptional cases—for instance, 
a church with a massive tower. But the mere keeping the tow¬ 
er separated from the other parts is of no avail, unless the lat¬ 
ter part of the rule is observed, by special intent or by chance 
of circumstances, as the case may be. It is this matter of re¬ 
solving a complex building into isolated parts, a task requiring 
experience and sagacity. Scarcely are there any two buildings 
alike in this respect, and the question ever arises, where shall I 
stop ? With some buildings it may be simple, so that the old 
every-day routine may suffice. 

Second Rule. —Estimate the weights of all those {really and 
ideally ) isolated parts, in order to apportion to each its due share 
of foundation. To this end it is required to know the bearing capacity 















AND ISOLATED PIERS. 


149 


of the particular ground, and also whether or not, and in what ratio, 
the load may be increased in proportion to the area of base. If 
it were found, for instance, that the medium bearing capacity 
(reduced to a convenient unit) is, say two tons per square foot— 
meaning that under such proportionate load the ground will be 
compressed in a limited known ratio—and if it were further 
known (approximately so at least) that this ratio holds good for 
any amount of load, the task is at once simple. A pier weigh¬ 
ing 120 tons must receive a base pressing upon an area of 60 
square feet; a pier weighing 20 tons must press upon an area of 
only 10 square feet, and so on in this proportion. It will be found, 
however, that the proportion varies with the nature of the 
ground. Ground least fluid and most solid (dry clay) will thus 
give too much support to the lesser loads ; ground approaching 
semi-fluidity will give them too little. In each case, therefore, 
where the properties of the ground are not fully known in ad¬ 
vance, tests must be instituted for their ascertainment, and the 
apportionment made accordingly. 

Third Rule. — Determine , upon the ground section , centers (and 
center lines) of all ( isolated) parts , which in upright section will be 
the axis {and axial planes) of these parts , and place the {masonry) 
bases so that the centers of their areas of contact will coincide with 
the first centers . It means that foundations must be made to 
support their loads centrally. The observation of this rule is of 
the utmost importance, for upon it will depend the perpendic¬ 
ularity of all the walls and the corners of the structure. Let all 
parts have central foundations, and no inherent tendency will 
exist to disturb this perpendicularity. There will in such case 
be no particular need of any anchors, except for temporary use, 
while in the contrary case the strongest and best applied anchors 
will not suffice to preserve the exact normal position of the walls 
and corners. Have the bottom right , and all else will come right 
without many f urther precautions. 

I comprise the above three important rules under the head of 
“Method of Isolated Piers,” which I advance as a scientific 
method in opposition to the old random method of continuous 
foundations. 

I am aware that isolated foundation-piers are of old date. 


Baumann’s foundations 


150 

Such isolation of piers has been, however, the exception , not the 
rule. Its origin is from chance and circumstance, not from 
logic. I, on the other hand, advance a principle which makes 
isolated piers the rule in all cases , and continuous foundations the 
exception , where, for instance, piers of uniform weights are so 
close to each other that the bases will interconnect. 

Objection might be raised to this new method, on the ground 
that any building-ground may not be everywhere of the same 
uniform density. This circumstance will but seldom occur, 
and if and wheresoever it does so, the greater difficulty should 
be a spur to greater care and perseverance. It would in such 
case be requisite to make the most careful survey of the ground, 
to determine the degrees of variations in density, and map the 
same, in order to obtain a correct basis for estimation and ap¬ 
portionment. 

The Building-ground of Chicago. —The subsoil throughout 

is of blue clay, covered by sand and loam, which, below the 
level of ground-water, become “ quicksand ” and “blue muck .” 
(n the central part of the city the clay is found at a depth of 
-‘‘bout five feet from the original surface, which now is about 
right feet below the established grade of streets. This clay-bed 
is more or less permeated by water, which enters through a net¬ 
work of fine gravelly veins, and through the river channel; it 
is, therefore, varying in its bearing capacity in proportion to its 
state of humidity, the driest clay of course being the hardest, 
and therefore the best for purposes of foundation. In the 
central part of the city the clay-bed has a distinct surface, cov¬ 
ered with a scattered stratum of boulder-gravel, and is termed 
“ hardpan .” It approaches the surface to within five feet. 
Throughout the West Division the clay is equally near to day¬ 
light, though it has no distinct surface, the loam gradually 
changing into clay. 

From State Street eastward, the dip of the clay-bed is so steep 
that already within one block it becomes ordinarily impracticable 
to reach it. Nor is this necessary, for the overlying soil 
answers all purposes. This soil is here an intimate mixture of 
clay and fine sand, in common parlance termed “blue muckf on 
account of its shifty nature; but its quality as building-ground 


AND ISOLATED PIERS. 


151 

is better than first appearances would warrant. Toward the 
North and South the clay is covered by a bed of fine sand, 
which grows in thickness with the distance from the center of 
the city ; it becomes what is termed quicksand from the level of 
ground-water downward, which level is mostly within a few feet 
from the surface. A massive stone church tower erected upon this 
quicksand gradually sank , within about eight months after its 
completion , some twenty inches , carrying with it the surrounding 
ground on a radius of over forty feet. There being apparently no 
limit to this “settlingf the tower was taken down. Its weight 
upon the base was probably not over thirty-six pounds per square 
inch. 

The convenient bearing capacity of all this soil is twenty pounds 
to the square inch. With this the bases in all ordinary cases be¬ 
come not so widespread as to necessitate for their solid con. 
struction any cutting into the hardpan. Such proportionate 
load will compress the hardpan to the extent of about one inch 
during construction of the building, and about one-half of an 
inch during the next six months following, after which time 
the load appears to be poised upon the clay; the season, as oft¬ 
en the popular belief is, having no share in this “settling.” The 
compression will be greater, as a matter of course, upon the soft¬ 
er portions of the clay, as well as upon the loam, dry or wet; it 
is least upon the dry surface-sand, where this can be made avail¬ 
able. All that is necessary is the strict application of the 
“method of isolated piers,” so that all parts of the ground will 
be compressed in the same degree, causing a perfectly equable 
“settling.” But in practice it will ever be found advisable to 
base calculations upon the smallest possible amount of ultimate 
compression, and to be guided in this matter (as we ought to be 
in all others) by prudent economy ; hence I term the bearing 
capacity stated a convenient one. This matter of dividing a build¬ 
ing into isolated parts, and estimating the weight is by no means 
as simple as at first it would appear, and may even in some cases 
offer material difficulties. Take, for instance, a building six or 
seven stories high, fire-proof, with fire-proof vaults in the lower 
stories. The outer and some of the inner walls are of full height; 
other inner walls are one, two or five stories less in height ; some 
of the vaults extend through four stories, others stop in the base* 


152 


baumann’s foundations 


ment; the loads become shifted by the location of the openings : 
there are columns bearing floors ; the internal walls and columns 
do not become loaded as the building progresses, for floors, 
ceilings and plastering are not applied before the building is 
roofed. Now if the ultimate “settling” is kept within the limit 
of one and a half inches, as it ought to be, the problem of attain¬ 
ing a sound and perfect structure is solvable through an ordinary 
amount of sagacity and carefulness applied upon the “method of 
isolated piersprobable differences falling within the limits of 
one-quarter to one-half of an inch, and causing no palpable de¬ 
fects. 

» 

Examples and Instances— Being an Illustration of the “Method 
of Isolated Piers .—Fig. 2 shows upright section of a pier of an 
outer wall, and elevation of an abutting dwarf-wall. If, as the 
old method would suggest, in order to furnish “all the bearing- 
possible,” the dwarf-wall is connected with the pier at its line 



of intersection, ef the pier will be thrust outward, and the 
dwarf-wall crack as indicated. The cause may readily be found. 
Construct the axis, d a } of the pier, and see whether it coincides 
with the center of area occupied by the base of the pier. Were 
the dwarf-wall not connected at e /and a b—a c ; —i. e., were the 
construction made in accordance with the “method of isolated 
piers,” there would be no thrust against the pier. But the 
usual old random mode of “all the bearing possible” extends 
the area of base inward to c', and thereby shifts the axis of the 

















AND ISOLATED PIERS. 


153 


pier off the center toward the outer edge of the supporting base, 
b c which causes the ground to be pressed into an inclined sur¬ 
face and, consequently, the pier to be thrust outward. Were 
the base of the dwarf-wall made so narrow as to cause a settling 
of the dwarf-wall equal to that of the pier, it would at first sight 
appear as though then the wall might be connected. Yet this 
is, nevertheless, forbidden by the circumstance that the base of 
the dwarf-wall would receive all its load before the pier would ; 
say, one-fifth part of it. Besides, it is extremely difficult to pro¬ 
portion so slight a load with sufficient accuracy; and the laws 
of nature are very severe ; but a slight deviation of the axis, d a 
from the center of area of base will have its marked effect. 
Two rules may be abstracted from this instance. 

First —Let the axis of the load always strike a little way 



inward from the center of the area of the base, in order to make 
sure that it will not be toward the outside. Any inward incli¬ 
nation of the pier is rendered impossible by the floor beams, 
while an outward inclination must be counteracted by artificial 
means, such as anchors, which, in all cases, are but reliable to 
a certain degree. Anchoring is thus reduced to safeguards ; 
although anchors are placed on every sixth or eighth beam of 
each tier on stores. 

Second —Never connect an abutting dwarf-wall with an outer 
. pier or wall. Build it independently, with a distinct, clean, 




























































154 


baumann’s foundations 


straight joint. In some cases it might be advisable to leave four 
inches of clear space, to be walled up afterward. 

Fig. 3 shows what, in a measure, occurs to an old-fashioned 
four-story building erected upon continuous foundations. The 
middle column, having no load to sustain, retains its original 
position while the others are pressed downward, with results as 
represented. 

The corner piers, if not prevented from doing so by the re¬ 
sistance of buildings at the right and left, are thrust outward 



because their axes are not centrally supported, as can be readily 
seen without further explanation. The foundation, in fact, re¬ 
solves itself into piers, but in a manner contrary to sound engi¬ 
neering, giving to the lightest pier the largest support. Before 
the great fire, scores of similar fronts were seen in Chicago, nor 
has the lesson been thoroughly understood after this great 
event. 

Years after the “method of isolated piers” had slowly taken 
its course, some new comer of an architect took it upon him¬ 
self to show his colleagues that he could overcome the difficulty 
by means of inverted arches. The result was a building on the 






































AND ISOLATED PIERS. 


155 


corner of Washington and Dearborn Streets, as here represented 
by Fig. 4. The extent of the front was forty feet; the lintel 
was one piece of timber, connecting the piers and columns of 
the front, causing all to incline, parallel with the corner pier, to 
the extent of nearly three inches out of their perpendicular 
lines. It is not difficult to conceive that good inverted arches 
have a greater effect upon shifting the axis of load off the cen¬ 
ter of base than has a mere continuous foundation (or a contin¬ 
uous bed of concrete) ; likewise, that the thrust of the arch it¬ 
self, if any such occurs, would have the tendency to counteract 
rather than enhance the difficulty arising from oblique settling 
of the base. 



i 


% 



The case grows serious with Fig. 5, which represents part of 
a front, consisting of alternate heavy and light piers. Contin¬ 
uous foundations, or beds of concrete, or inverted arches, would 
have a tendency to thrust the corner pier outward, and to break 
the horizontal connections over the little piers, as has been 
demonstrated by the former examples. But even the smallest 
admissible bases might prove troublesome in regard to the little 
piers. In such cases, resort may be had to an entire omission 
of bases for such little piers, and to the introduction of some 
bearing connection from large to large pier for their support, as 
shown in Fig. 5. A case has occurred very lately in Chicago, 
where the bases of such heavy piers were made too small, and 











































156 


baumann’s foundations 


those of the lighter piers too large (isolated piers were here 
employed without method). The effect was that the sinking 
heavy piers hung themselves, with part of their weight, by 
means of very stiff horizontal connections, on the little piers, 
and literally crushed them. Had these crushed piers been 
stronger than the horizontal connections, the latter would be¬ 
come seriously damaged. As it was, the building underwent 
jack-screw operation and insertion of new piers. In cases 
where there are mere mullions in the larger lower windows, as 
represented in Fig. 6, if the mullions are supported on iron 



construction from large piers on each side, piers under will not 
be required ; otherwise, direct foundations under these mullions 
will be necessary, and the piers to be proportioned to sustain 
the load above. 

A prominent building lately erected with such mullion piers 
upon direct foundations. was merely saved by the fact that, 
firstly, it was placed upon old, well settled foundations, and, sec¬ 
ondly , that the three upper stories of the design were omitted, 
leaving the building, as it now stands, four stories high. The 
consequence, thus far, is the mere fracture of one of the power¬ 
ful stone lintels covering the basement openings (as indicated 
by dotted line). 

The case assumes a different aspect under Fig. 7, yet it is 
readily shown to belong to the same class. In 1852, I construct¬ 
ed the front of a blacksmith’s shop in the manner shown by 
Fig. 7, with this result, that the keystone of the doorway arch 
dropped downward. The inverted arch owed its existence to 
the universal random idea of “get all the bearing you can.” 


































AND ISOLATED PIERS. 


157 


But when the piers e f and g h are considered by themselves, it 
is not difficult to observe that, through the very introduction of 
this inverted arch (or continuous rubble wall or concrete), the 
axes of these piers become shifted off the centers of their bases, 
consequently, thrust outward; hence the dropping of the 



keystone. The fact is, that a front thus constructed compresses 
the ground under its base to a convex plane, while on the other 
hand, by the principle demonstrated in the discussion of Fig. 2, 
it should be so constructed as to compress the ground to a plane 
slightly concave , which may be readily effected by omitting the 
foundation under the opening. 



























































baumann’s foundations 


158 

The reader will now fully understand the reason why the arch¬ 
es over almost all large openings (in churches etc.) have more 
or less parted. He will understand from Fig. 8 why the arches 
over the center of the ill-fated Court House wings were rent. 
The law acts with unerring certainty, no matter what the ex¬ 
tent of the front, no matter how slight the cause. But to fur¬ 
nish a most striking example of the minuteness with which this 
law operates, I produce Fig. 9, which is intended to represent 
a view of the east gable of the (destroyed) celebrated Crosby 
Opera House. The foundation wall, twelve feet high, was 
built of rubble stone in cement mortar, and had ample time to set, 
since the brick wall was not started thereon until about two 
months afterward. The base was five feet wide upon the hard- 
pan, the brick wall twenty inches thick for twenty feet high, 



and sixteen inches for the following sixty feet. The load upon 
the base was consequently about twenty-six pounds to the 
square inch. The whole weight of wall and base was 850 tons, 
less twenty tons omitted by the two openings. The ultimate 
settling of the wall could not have been over two and a half 
inches, yet the slight reduction of the load by only twenty tons, 
at its center, from the total load of 850 tons, caused the base to 
assume a slightly convex plane, so that both corners were 
somewhat thrust over, as indicated by the parting of the arches 
over the openings, which parting was so decided that the cracks 
were plainly seen at 160 feet distance, from the opposite side of 









AND ISOLATED PIERS. 


159 


State Street,* and caused a whisper among the unsophisticated 
passers by to the effect that the house was unsafe. And all 
this from so little a cause ! The most remarkable feature of 
this case, however, is that the base, thirty-two feet thick , as it 
were, from the hardpan to the sill of the lower opening, did ac¬ 
commodate itself readily to the assumed curvature of the ground ; 
that, in fact, all this mass of solid brick and stone work acted as 
though it were possessed, in a measure, by a minute degree of 



quassi-fluidity. This ought to show to satisfaction, if not a 
proper consideration of the case by itself did, that compressible 
ground cannot be spread over at random by concrete, or any 
kind of masonry, and thereby made exempt from the operations 
of the “law of convex deflection.” All such masonry, of what- 
soeverkind, will, from its nature, yield and accommodate itself to 
such curvatures of the ground as the different loads at different 
places will naturally produce.! 

To give one of the most flagrant instances of what happens 
from non-observation of the biddings of the “law of convex de¬ 
flection,” I introduce (Fig. 10) a section of the old water-reser¬ 
voir structure on Adams Street, erected 1854- The consequence 

♦This irable was a mere court wall, receding ninety-three feet from the 
line of State Street, upon which, immediately afterward, a tine building 
was erected by the owner of the Opera House. 

t Omitting some of the base at the center, by means of an arch as indicated, 
would have preserved the exact perpendicular state of the corners, so as to 
leave the arches intact. 































































i6o 


baumann’s foundations 


was the immediate discomfiture of the structure on the first day 
when the water was let on. Even if other causes had not en¬ 
hanced this result, the “law of convex deflection” alone would 
have been sufficient for its production. To render the concern 
serviceable, all openings were walled up and an intermediate 
inner wall was built, as indicated by dotted lines. Nothing 
could have happened had the foundation been prepared in ac¬ 
cordance with the “method of isolated piers.” 

Cross section through an outer wall. — Fig. 11 . It will 



readily be perceived that, by dint of this continuous bed of con¬ 
crete, the axis da is shifted off the center of its base; the clay 
beneath will consequently be compressed to a convex plane , with 
a tendency to thrust the wall out of its perpendicular line. This 
tendency need, however, not become realty, because of the very 
probable rupture of the bed of concrete, as indicated in Fig. n, 
or else because the cross anchoring will be so effective as to 
prevent such occurrence to an extent that will be noticed by a 
non-expert. Had this wall an independent central base, as dic¬ 
tated by the “method of isolated piers,” no possible contingency 
could ever arise. 

2. Considering the large inequality of the weights of the 
piers of the outside walls, the heavier piers will sink down, in 
some measure, proportionate to the weight of pier and size of 
base upon the clay, such as it may assume for itself, while the 
little piers will almost wholly retain their original levels. The 
difference may possibly not be very considerable, and escape 
the eye of the non-expert, but occur it must, by dint of inexora¬ 
ble law. 













AND ISOLATED PIERS. 


161 


3. Taking a view of a corner with adjoining pier, Fig. 12, 
the case represents itself similar to what it does in Fig. 11, with 
this difference, however, that in Fig. 11, the concrete is bare and 



may be readily ruptured, while here the concrete is strengthened 
by a mass of the most excellent masonry, and may not break so 
as to save the corner from being thrust outward. Besides, the 
anchors, as usually applied, get no.hold at the corners. To hold 



them would require a longitudinal and cross anchoring within 
the thickness of the walls, from corner to corner, a troublesome 
and expensive proceeding. Under the “method of isolated 
piers,” with observance of the biddings of the “law of convex 
deflection,” the corners would take care of themselves without 
anchors. 

4. Taking a section through one of the intended internal 
piers, Fig. 13, the case assumes a very serious aspect. The load 
per column is said to be upward of 380 tons; the column is to 
stand upon an iron stool, with bottom plate six feet square, 
bedded on the bare concrete. To arrive at any accurate, or even 
approximate, estimate of the efficacy of this bed of concrete, un¬ 
der existing circumstances, is simply a matter of impossibility. 
A mechanical estimate to this effect requires a knowledge of its 



































baumann’s foundations 


i 62 

exact absolute and crushing strength, as well as ot the exact de 
gree of the elasticity and incipient fluidity (yielding property) of 
this concrete. Even if these properties were ascertained from 
samples, it would by no means follow that the bed, just at such 
particular place, is altogether precisely according to the samples. 
Trials have been made by loading plates one foot square with as 
much as thirty and more tons upon each. To conclude from 
this trial upon the nature of the case is, I believe, a fallacy. 
Even if one square foot would bear, without damage to the in¬ 
tegrity of this bed of concrete, say 100 tons during a week, the 
conclusion is by no means warranted that it will carry for all 



time to come 380 tons upon a spot six feet square, with absolute 
and infallible certainty. (Actual practical judgment, with an 
allowance of one-quarter of the load that produces any move¬ 
ment of depression on the earth, will be safe.) The load, as the 
case is, must be trusted on chance , instead of on mathematical 
certainty, and is, therefore, in a technical meaning insufficiently 
supported , which involves by no means a prediction that in reali¬ 
ty the support will , or must, fail. It simply means that it may 
fail. Any construction in building that is not secure by dint of 
mathematical certainty, is technically insecure, and therefore 
condemnable. How differently does this case present itself un¬ 
der the light of the “method of isolated piers,” as is illustrated 
by Fig. 14. Here the hardpan is loaded to a ratio of about 
twenty pounds to the square inch. With a pier well bedded, 
and securely constructed out of the most beautiful material so 
readily at hand in Chicago, it is mathematically certain that the 
ultimate “settling” will be (about) one and a half inches. Be- 























AND ISOLATED PIERS. 163 

sides, this construction would have the point of economy in its 
favor. 

Concrete. —Good concrete is always made up with cement- 
mortar. This artificial conglomerate rock is spread upon the 
building-ground at large, or upon the bottom of foundation 
trenches, in a thickness varying, as the case may be, from one 
to five feet for the purpose of an “ equalizer .” Concrete work 
at best is random work , that may and may not do good service. 
Upon hard and practically incompressible ground, it is super¬ 
fluous, as a matter of course, except what may be required for 
the bedding of footing courses. Upon compressible ground it 
will, under some circumstances , accommodate itself to the deflec¬ 
tions of the ground caused by superincumbent loads, and thus 
may, if circumstances concur, be of very serious damage to the 
structure, under the ‘‘law of convex deflection,” as before de¬ 
monstrated. I reject random work as being contrary to the 
spirit of the present age, and recommend in its place the 
“method of isolated piers ” for foundations. 

Concrete is applicable in foundations as a base in place of 
other masonry. Its application is there justified in all cases, 
where it chances to be the cheapest material. It is in this sense 
one of the means at the hands of the engineer for the attain¬ 
ment of his ends. 

Class III.— Semi-Fluid Grounds. —This class comprises silt, 
marsh , peat, and the like. When gravel or rock can be found 
within practicable distance, piers of some kind may be sunk 
upon it; but ordinarily resort is had to artificially condensing 
the ground by means of piling. 


SECOND PART. 

The Base is alike a means of support as it is a means of 

% ' 

spreading out in order to convey the pressure exacted by the 
load upon such area of the ground as has been determined under 
the “method of isolated piers.” The base therefore must be 
in every respect solid; the pressure to which it is subjected 


164 


baumann’s foundations 


must in no way move its constituent parts. The Chicago 
material for bases is : Dimension stone , hard lime-rock, of most 
any dimensions, from eight to twenty inches thick, and with 
even beds. There can be no better material in the whole world 
than this dimension stone. There is also nibble stone of the 
same rock, hard, flat bedded, handy as to size. Concrete, being 
inferior to rubble work, and besides being more costly, is out of 
the question, at least under a reasonable view of employing 
means to an end. For dimension stone I have adopted the rule 



of making the offsets somewhat less than the thickness of stone, 
though I know of no instance of an evil result from offsets 
being even more than equal to the thickness of stone. For 
rubble I have adopted four inches of an offset to each foot of 
height. For concrete I should reduce the offset to three inches. 
Figs. 15, 16, 17 represent bases accordingly, all under the sup¬ 
position that the weight of the wall requires a width of base of 
six feet eight inches. 

For Dimension stone.$6.00 per foot lin. 

44 Rubble stone. 6.90 44 44 44 

44 Concrete. 14.28 44 44 44 

making evident the absurdity of employing concrete in Chicago 
foundations. 

The money point grows more in favor of rubble stone as the 
base is narrower, and more in favor of dimension stone as it is 
wider, as can be readily estimated. 

Pier bases ought in all cases to be wholly constructed of 
dimension stone. 








































AND ISOLATED PIERS. 


165 


The bedding of the base on the ground offers but little diffi¬ 
culty. Upon sand and loam, dry or wet, it beds itself without 
trouble. Clay is best covered first with a thin layer of gravel 
or broken stone, rammed into the surface, and grouted with liq¬ 
uid cement-mortar. A layer of concrete, from two and a half to 
four inches thick, and rammed partly into the surface, answers 
the same purpose. Upon the surface thus prepared mortar is 
.spread, and the stone bedded. 

The mortar ought always to be good cement-mortar, with sand 
of very coarse, gravelly nature as its component. For joints of 
two or more inches in thickness, between dimension stones 
which happen to have uneven beds, a mortar, made of two parts 
of roofing gravel and one of fresh cement, has answered excel¬ 
lent purpose. By this the expense of dressing the stone is 
saved, and yet the end attained with all the certainty required 
in ordinary cases. 



I conclude the subject with Figs. 18 and 19, representing 
bases of two of the tallest chimneys in Chicago. 

Fig. 18 is the base of the chimney erected in 1859 for the 
Chicago Refining Company, 151 feet high, 12 feet square at 
foot. The base, merely two courses of heavy dimension stone, 
as shown, is bedded upon the surface gravel near the mouth of 
the river, there recently deposited by the lake. The mortar 
employed in the joint between the stone is roofing gravel and 
cement. The area of base is 256 square feet, the weight of 
chimney, inclusive of base, 625 tons, giving a pressure of thirty- 
four pounds to the square inch. This foundation proved to be 

very perfect. 

Fig. 19 is the base of the chimney erected in 1872 for the 
McCormick Reaper Works, which is 160 feet high, 14 feet 












baumann’s foundations 



< Z5 ' 


square at the foot, with round flue of 6 ' 8" diameter. The 
base covers 625 square feet: the weight of the chimney and 
base is approximately 1,100 tons ; the pressure upon the ground 
(dry, hard clay) is therefore, 24 1-3 pounds to the square inch. 
This foundation too proved to be most perfect in every respect. 
24 1-3 pounds per square inch is a moderate load for piers. 


t 
























AN IMPROVED LEVELING INSTRUMENT. 


Adapted to the use of Architects, Engineers, Masons, Builders , 

Farmers and others. 



-I z 


LU m 


> 


=> 


»LS FNCNX 

DESCRIPTION OF THE LEVEL. 


T HE sighting tube AA ' is 14 in. long and has at the end A' a pin hole looking through 
the tube, and at the other end A a small )ing in-ide the brass shield or outer ring 
shown in cut holding the cross wires. A cover is provided as shown in cut to protect the 
cross wires. This tube rests in the Ys, Y and Y '. On this tube at the Ys are two rings 
with flanges, like car wheels, and it is held in its place by the latches on the top of the 
Ys. By loosening these latches this sighting tuoe may be revolved to test the adjust¬ 
ment of the cross wires. 

) At the feet of the Ys will he seen the nuts, one above and one below the end of the 
cross bar, which may be turned, thus raising or lowering the end of the tube and adjusting 
the line of sight to the line of level. The circle C is graduated to io° and the pointer 
marked to degrees, so that the instrument may be used in laying.off angles, squaring 
foundations-, &c. The pointer is movable and can be fixed. in position by the set screw 
shown in the cut just below the cross bar. The cross bar carries the glass bubble which is 
seen in the cut. The bubble itself may be adjusted by the screws. To the circle are 
attached the two thumb screws and springs opposite to them by means of which the in¬ 
strument is brought to a level. . , 

In the outer edge of the Base B is a smoothly turned groove in which the feet of the 
screws and springs may slip easily whenever it may be necessary to revolve the circle on 
the base. The centre of the base is formed into a socket for the ball referred to above. 
The under surface has a solid cylinder which screws in the collar of the tripod. . 1 he cord 
suspending the plumb-bob drops from the centre of the instrument to which it is attached 
by a loop not shown in the cut. From this description it will be seen that this instrument 
can be adjusted in every way possible in the highest priced instruments, and has besides the 
additional feature of a horizontal circle, making it in reality a plain transit, as well as level. 
Every instrument will be completely adjusted before it is shipped. 

The instrument is put up in a handsome wooden box with strap for carrying and 
furnished with a surveyor’s tripod and a short or mason’s tripod. 

PRICE OF INSTRUMENT COMPLETE, 820 . 

Forwarded by express on receipt of price. The charges of transportation from New 
York to the purchaser are in all cases to be borne by him, I guaranteeing the safe arrival 
of all instruments to the extent of express transportations, and holding the express com¬ 
panies responsible to me for all losses or damages on the way. 

A NEW LEVELBNG ROD. 

This rod is round and made in two sections, so that.it can be conveniently carried, is 
united by a solid screw joint, so that when together it is as firm as if of one length, and 
has a target as shown in illustration, made to slide on the rod. , , 

There are two scales: one side being Engineer’s (feet, ioths and iooths); the other 

Architect’s scale (or feet, inches and 8 ths). . 

Forwarded by express on receipt of price. The charges of transportation from iNcw 
York to the purchaser are in all cases to be borne by him. Price, $G ,00. 

Where the Level is ordered with the rod, the price of the two will be, $25aOO. 


WILLIAM T. COMSTOCK, Manufacturer, 6 Astor Place, New York. 












































































































































































“ BUILDING.” 

an architectural monthly. 

Subscription, $1.00 per Year, in advance. Single Copies, 10 cts. 

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“ SPECIAL ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF BUILDING.” 

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Each number contains 16 full-page lithographic plates. 


PRESS NOTICES 

Of “Building,” and the “Special Illustrated Edition of Building.” 


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new claimant for public favor well deserves It. 

Every number is worth the subscription price to any 
who have interest in building, old or new.— 
Living Church, Chicago. 


^Persons sending 50c. for sample copy of the “ Special Illustrated Edition of Build¬ 
ing,” will receive a receipt entitling them to the remaining numbers for the year on receipt of 
$4 .50, provided their subscription is received within 60 days thereafter. 












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